Master of Bad Dreams
by MircThomas19
Summary: What if Ash wasn't with his friends who tried to save the Pokémon of good dreams from Team Rocket, all to try and subdue Darkrai until Cresselia will arrive and stop him? What if, by accident, Ash caught Darkrai after all his Pokémon were defeated? What will this Trainer do with the Pokémon of nightmares? Ash was even a different trainer after being hit by Darkrai's nightmares.
1. The Last Front

Master of Bad Dreams

The Last Front, The First Chapter of a Legend

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

Ash was alone. Alone in the darkness that felt cold and vast. He was having a nightmare, one that he couldn't wake up from. He never wanted to. He just drifted like spare barrel in a stormy sea, discarded and forgotten.

"Why did you have to lose!? You should have won the Indigo Plateau Conference!"

"You are not smart enough to train Pokémon properly!"

"What kind of trainer refuses to control his Pokémon like we are supposed to?"

"I can't believe that I lost to a loser like you! You must be a cheater!"

"I think that Pikachu is wasted on a trainer who couldn't win a Pokémon League!"

"You are that boy who lost at the Silver Conference, I forget your name."

"I can't believe that I wanted to learn from a stupid boy who thinks of nothing but battles and food! No girl will ever love someone like you!"

"You are that boy who cheated at the Battle Frontier. I will show the world that you were not worthy of being a Frontier Brain."

"I wish that you will be a better person than you are now. The world will be a better place without someone like you."

"I can't believe that you have forgotten what I taught you! I thought you were my younger brother!"

Ash could only listen to his greatest fears come true. Not that he failed again, that he lost to rivals again. That his friends have gave up on him because that he never won a Pokémon Championship for his hometown or for all the hard work that his Pokémon put into or even the training and teachings that he received from his experience and friends. And all this was done by a Pokémon who causes nightmares with its powers over those who sleep at night; Darkrai. And Ash foolishly thought that he could buy his friend some time to get the only Pokémon who could counteract Darkrai's bad dreams with some good ones.

He could remember his friends telling him to come back and his best buddy trying to say the same before ultimately siding with him.

 _Flashback Begins!_

 _It was after Ash and his friends had found out the cause of the nightmares that plagued Canalave City and all its inhabitants, preventing them from getting a good night's sleep in weeks. It was Team Rocket, a criminal group that worked for a greater organization but mostly independently for their own crimes and cons. I this case, they did make a con; they sold fake good dream charms to the citizens who will do anything for a good nine hours of sleep without nightmares. But it was Team Rocket using a nightmare machine to cause this whole mess in the first place._

 _The reason no one ever bothered to investigate was that Team Rocket made it look like a Pokémon did it. Canalave City was unfortunate to be visited by Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon once a year. But Team Rocket made one mistake, they got the timing wrong and the citizens became suspicious and when Ash and the gang arrived, they were finally got the horse power and the Pokémon trainers to check things out._

 _Even after Team Rocket's nightmare machine was destroyed, people were still having nightmares. Ash was having one that actually told him what was going on. While the nightmare machine was being used to con the citizens and made money, it also enraged Darkrai that some humans were doing what he loved the most. He was there for sure as he took in that nightmare machine in order to magnify his own powers over bad dreams. Now that Team Rocket's machine was destroyed, Darkrai's power boost was robbed from him but it was too late. Darkrai was now right on schedule and he was still angry, enough to make the nightmares he usually makes even worst._

 _Ash won't let Darkrai get away with this and with the help of the locals and his friends' Pokémon, they were able to find the trail that will lead them to Cresselia, the Lunar Pokémon and the only polar opposite to Darkrai. When the two combine, the balance of good and bad dreams is restored for another year. But not this year, Cresselia is needed even more than before; but Darkrai was still angry. Enough that he even showed Ash in that nightmare that if Cresselia tries to stop him, he will instead leave behind a spell of bad dreams that even Cresselia can't break; he was just too powerful after Team Rocket had enhanced his powers._

 _Ash realized that the time it will take to find Cresselia might take too long and Darkrai may have the entire city under the spell well before Cresselia will appear. Ash knew that if Darkrai was going to be stopped before he could complete his spell, it will die out before it take place on the city. Without telling anyone, he abandoned his friends on the hilltop where they were waiting for Cresselia and ran back to the Canalave City._

 _"Wait Ash!"_

 _"I am going to stop Darkrai!"_

 _"You can't!_

 _"He is too strong!"_

 _"Stop!_

 _"Pika pi Pikachu!"_

 _Ash heard all that until he was too far away to hear their voices. They just couldn't let another one leave the hill and get trapped in Canalave City under Darkrai's control. Ultimately, Ash fell into Darkrai's powers as soon as he entered the city. Darkrai knew he was coming and Ash had fallen into the trap the Pitch-Black Pokémon had laid for him._

 _Flashback Ends!_

XXXXX

Meanwhile, in the real world, a Pokémon was standing against Darkrai. He was a short, chubby rodent Pokémon. It is covered in yellow fur, and its ears are long and pointed with black tips. It has a small mouth, brown eyes, and two red circles on its cheeks. There are pouches inside its cheeks where it stores electricity. Its forearms are short, with five fingers on each paw, and its feet have three toes. It has two brown stripes on its back, and its tail is in the shape of a lightning bolt with a patch of brown fur at the base. All this made up an Electric Type Pokémon, Pikachu. A female will have a V-shaped notch at the end of its tail, which looks like the top of a heart. It is classified as a quadruped, but it has been known to stand and walk on its hind legs.

And this Pikachu was standing on his hind legs, next to Ash's down figure as they both were glazed down by Darkrai who, despite it being nighttime and all the lights were out, was visible for Pikachu to glare at. Darkrai was a black, shadow-like Pokémon. It has a small head with a white fog-like ghostly plume billowing from its head covering one of its bright blue eyes, with the portion on its face resembling hair. It also has a red spiky growth around its neck. It has skinny arms and long black tatters hanging from its shoulders. It also has black, claw-like hands. It has the slight appearance of an hourglass figure and appears to be wearing an old, ripped cloak.

Darkrai was confused and yet impressed that a lowly and non-legendary Pokémon was standing against him. It always saw its prey cringe in fear and run away hoping to save themselves but not this time. Darkrai couldn't even find any drive to attack Pikachu but that was going to be his undoing when a bright light cut through his darkness.

Pikachu looked up from Darkrai and saw something beautiful in the ball of warm light. It was a Pokémon with a blue, swan-like body with a yellow underside. It has pink eyes, a dark pink, round tuft on its head, and a pointed, beak-like snout. There are yellow, crescent-shaped ornaments on the sides of its head. Finally, it has glowing, pink, ring-like wings on its sides and back with paw like protrusions resting on its chest. That was Cresselia, the Lunar Pokémon and pretty much the only Pokémon that can reverse the damage Darkrai has created.

"Ash! Pikachu!" Voices were heard in the distance, Pikachu saw that Dawn and Brock were racing towards him and Ash. They were the two friends and traveling companions that Ash brought with to Canalave City.

"Croagunk, **Poison Sting** and then **Brick Break**!" Brock, who was a large and tanned skin man who had brown spiky hair and eyes that appear to be shut closed, shouted and release his Croagunk. The Pokémon was a dark blue, bipedal Pokémon that resembles a poison dart frog. It has yellow eyes, which are surrounded by black markings. There are orange, expandable pouches on its cheeks, and its teeth are wide and flat. A black marking encircles its upper arms and chest, and there are white bands around its chest. It has three fingers and toes, most of which are black. The only digits that are not black are its center fingers, which are orange instead.

Pikachu knew that Croagunk's cheek pouches and fingers contain a poisonous fluid. However, the fluid squeezed from its finger is also a significant ingredient in remedies for lower back pain. The cheek pouches can be used to create an unnerving sound. When its opponents are distracted, it tries to stab them with its fingers. Despite this, it is a mild Pokémon, fighting only to ensure its own survival. And now it was fighting for Ash and on orders of his trainer.

Croagunk had opened his mouth to unleash a swarm of tiny needles that were actually made of poison. But Darkrai was able to dodge them and **Ominous Wind** which was a gust of repulsive wind. It may also raise all the user's stats at once. It did and Darkrai was now even more enhanced, so much that he was able to take in Croagunk's **Brick Break** despite the type advantage Fighting has over a Dark type like Darkrai.

Brock was shocked that Darkrai had gotten the advantage over his Croagunk and watched with helplessness as Darkrai repelled Croagunk away with a claw attack from the shadows, that **Shadow Claw** was strong to knock Croagunk out like a light. Now it was Dawn's turn,

She was about Ash's age and she was a beautiful girl who sported mostly pink in her outfit, on her boots, on her white hat, on her ascot, and on the bottom edge of her skirt. The rest of her shirt was black and sleeveless, her socks were also black and almost reached her kneecaps. Her undershirt was barely able to cover her stomach and was white and showing from under her shirt. Her blue hair was knitted in a fashionable style, with two golden hair locks above both ears. Finally, her wrists had bracelets with the left one with some kind of watch.

"Piloswine, use **Hidden Power** and then use **Dig**!" Dawn released, from her Pokéball, a big, brown, furry Pokémon with an impressive hump on its back. It also has two tusks made of ice, which seem small but can be lethal. These tusks thicken when it snows. It has floppy ears that are sensitive to sound. Piloswine has two beady eyes in its head; however, these are usually covered up by tufts of fur. As it is usually unable to see, it checks surroundings with its sensitive pig-like nose instead. Its hair is so long that it usually covers its small, hoofed legs.

The Piloswine released a ball of sliver colored energy against Darkrai who managed to take it in anyways but then realized that he had lost the Ground and Ice type Pokémon until Piloswine emerged from the ground, hitting Darkrai and taking the Legendary Pokémon by surprise. And yet it was too good to be true and the Pitch-Black Pokémon soon faced Piloswine and caused it to glow which caused Brock to gasp; Dawn learned what it was the hard way when she tried to get somewhere by having Piloswine dig again but Darkrai used **Disable** on the Swine Pokémon and the latter couldn't use the same move again.

Then Darkrai created a bundle of rings all made of some kind of dark energy and unleashed them at Piloswine, powerful enough to finish the Swine Pokémon. It seemed that options are running out and Darkrai was not letting either Brock or Dawn use another Pokémon when he unleashed his **Dark Pulse** again and knocked out the two trainers. He then saw that Cresselia was trying to weaken him and Darkrai used his **Dark Pulse** on a wide spread range that attacked both the Lunar Pokémon and damage the ground beneath them all including Pikachu.

Cresselia realized that humans had caused Darkrai to grow too strong even for her so she decided to try and leave this in the hands of a human. It must take a human to clean up the mess made by humans. She then took to the moon shining through the darkness and shared what power she had left before fainting from using her signature move, Lunar Dance.

It helped Pikachu get back on his feet, even more powerful than he ever felt. But Darkrai was not going to let the Mouse Pokémon fight back and charged at Pikachu, ignoring both Cresselia and Ash which was going to be his undoing for the second time that very night. "Monferno, **Mach Punch**!" Darkrai couldn't stop a red blur from hitting him in the face since Mach Punch has the highest priority rate; meaning that it always goes first no matter how fast Darkrai maybe.

When Darkrai was hit away from Pikachu he saw that same Pokémon still on him. "Monferno use **Close Combat** with **Mach Punch** and then **Will-o-Wisp**!" As if two attacks have combined into one with all the attributes, Darkrai was hit by punches and kicks all moving before he could. The sheer force of that combined assault finally separated the Pitch-Black Pokémon from the red one that Ash summoned from his Pokéball. Darkrai was too busy shaking off the attacks that actually stunned him; he never noticed that the Pokémon had covered him in small fireballs that successfully burned him all over.

The burn actually hurt a lot and Darkrai even lost some of his speed and strength in the pain but he was not out yet. Instead he saw Ash, standing tall and ready for action again; with the plan to get even with Darkrai from that nightmare of a trap. Also Darkrai saw Pokémon in front of Ash along with Pikachu.

One of them was the one that Ash summoned to deal with the fast paced punches and the burn causing fireballs and he was a bipedal, primate-like Pokémon. Orange fur covers most of its body, except for its ears, muzzle, fingers, and circular areas on its palms, feet, and chest, which are tan. A small tuft of fur extends from the top of Monferno's head, and it has oval, brown eyes. Its eyes have a thick blue marking above and a small, red marking in-between. Its muzzle is short and blunt, with two small, pointed teeth it its upper jaw. There is a white ruff of fur around its neck and gold bands around its arms near its shoulders. It has five fingers on each hand, but only three toes on each foot. Its long tail has a red ring around the base and a flame burning at the tip.

Ash knew for a fact that the flame on Monferno's tail has several purposes. It can be controlled to keep opponents at an ideal distance or stretched in order to make Monferno appear larger. The size of its flame, in combination with brightness of its facial marking, indicates this Pokémon's position in its pack. The bigger the flame and the brighter the pattern, this higher the Pokémon's position. In addition to using its flaming tail as a weapon, Monferno can also leap from ceilings or walls to perform aerial attacks.

Ash sure kept this from his friends that his Monferno had evolved from Chimchar a few days ago when his training had finally hit the point of evolving. Dawn and Brock were just too busy and never listened to when Ash tried to show off his newly evolved Monferno to them. But they do know about the Pokémon currently standing next to Monferno.

It was a quadruped Pokémon with light green skin and a large shell covering its back. The shell is composed of hardened soil and conforms to the shape of its body, extending from its forehead to the tip of its short tail. The shell appears sectioned and is yellow with three long, brown ridges atop it. There are two bush-like trees growing around the outermost ridges. Its lower jaw is yellow and has triangular extensions on the cheeks, while its upper jaw has a hooked tip. Its feet are yellow and have three claws each. It was Ash's Grotle who evolved a few weeks before Chimchar did into Monferno.

Next to them both was an orange Pokémon resembling a weasel and a sea otter. The yellow collar that surrounds its neck can be inflated and used as a flotation device when it inhales. By inflating this sac, it can keep its face above water to watch for prey movement. It has two blue fins on its arms and a tail, which appears to be split, that resembles a fish's fin. Its tail acts as a boat propeller by spinning, though it was seen flying using its tail. There are parallel marks on their cheeks. Additionally, it has cream paw pads on its feet. It was Ash's Buizel, who was captured by Dawn but after some failed attempts to train him for contests he was traded to Ash for battling and not one of them ever regretted the trade.

In the air above them all were two Pokémon. One of them was a large, mainly blue-purple vampire bat-like Pokémon. Its legs have two toes and a slightly darker circular coloration on the underside, and its tail has two barbs, giving its tail the resemblance of a vampire's fangs. Its arms are red with thin striations, and are completely detached from its black wings, and each are ended with large pincers. Its ears have discernible, red, chambered ear insides, and its eyes are yellow. It has six visible fangs in its mouth, and its waist, like its arms, is red and striated. Its body resembles an open mouth, with the pointed protrusions coming from its upper torso resembling fangs, further illustrating its vampiric qualities. It was Ash's Gliscor and the first one that Ash had evolved under the conditions which involved holding an item and the time of day.

The other one was a grayish-brown, avian Pokémon with black and white markings. Its head and upper body are primarily black with an "M"-shaped pattern over its white chest. On its forehead is a grayish-brown spot, which is smaller on the female. On its face is a white, mask-like marking with a pattern of spikes along the lower edge. It has small, black eyes with white pupils and a long, orange beak with a black tip. On the back of its head is a long tuft of feathers, which curves forward. The lower halves of its wings are black, and it has black tail feathers with a single white feather in the center. Its orange, Anisodactyl feet have black talons. It was the very first Pokémon that Ash had caught here in Sinnoh, like the other common Flying and Normal type duel types that Ash always caught first in the other regions.

Darkrai looked at them all and not one of Ash's Pokémon are losing their focus or even stirring to his appearance. Normally he could feel afraid but instead he managed to make a smile that only he knew that he was making and readied himself for one heck of a fight. It was going to change both his and everyone's lives once the upcoming battle ends.

End of Chapter 1.

 ***I got this idea while working on Ash, the Iron Trainer so I thought that I will publish this story at the same time. It sure took a long time because I needed to think of the fight scenes unlike the first story I thought up. I am sure that there were stories about Ash owning a Darkrai but they always were near the end of his journey and I want to give Ash a lot more time with Darkrai and add a lot of firsthand experience with Legendary Pokémon. Tell me what you think and have a nice summer!***


	2. The Fate of the New Moon Pokémon?

Master of Bad Dreams

The Fate of the New Moon Pokémon?

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

 _Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,_

 _Cresselia realized that humans had caused Darkrai to grow too strong even for her so she decided to try and leave this in the hands of a human. It must take a human to clean up the mess made by humans. She then took to the moon shining through the darkness and shared what power she had left before fainting from using her signature move, Lunar Dance._

 _It helped Pikachu get back on his feet, even more powerful than he ever felt. But Darkrai was not going to let the Mouse Pokémon fight back and charged at Pikachu, ignoring both Cresselia and Ash which was going to be his undoing for the second time that very night. "Monferno,_ _ **Mach Punch**_ _!" Darkrai couldn't stop a red blur from hitting him in the face since Mach Punch has the highest priority rate; meaning that it always goes first no matter how fast Darkrai maybe._

 _When Darkrai was hit away from Pikachu he saw that same Pokémon still on him. "Monferno use_ _ **Close Combat**_ _with_ _ **Mach Punch**_ _and then_ _ **Will-o-Wisp**_ _!" As if two attacks have combined into one with all the attributes, Darkrai was hit by punches and kicks all moving before he could. The sheer force of that combined assault finally separated the Pitch-Black Pokémon from the red one that Ash summoned from his Pokéball. Darkrai was too busy shaking off the attacks that actually stunned him; he never noticed that the Pokémon had covered him in small fireballs that successfully burned him all over._

 _The burn actually hurt a lot and Darkrai even lost some of his speed and strength in the pain but he was not out yet. Instead he saw Ash, standing tall and ready for action again; with the plan to get even with Darkrai from that nightmare of a trap. Also Darkrai saw Pokémon in front of Ash along with Pikachu._

 _One of them was the one that Ash summoned to deal with the fast paced punches and the burn causing fireballs and he was a bipedal, primate-like Pokémon. Orange fur covers most of its body, except for its ears, muzzle, fingers, and circular areas on its palms, feet, and chest, which are tan. A small tuft of fur extends from the top of Monferno's head, and it has oval, brown eyes. Its eyes have a thick blue marking above and a small, red marking in-between. Its muzzle is short and blunt, with two small, pointed teeth it its upper jaw. There is a white ruff of fur around its neck and gold bands around its arms near its shoulders. It has five fingers on each hand, but only three toes on each foot. Its long tail has a red ring around the base and a flame burning at the tip._

 _Ash knew for a fact that the flame on Monferno's tail has several purposes. It can be controlled to keep opponents at an ideal distance or stretched in order to make Monferno appear larger. The size of its flame, in combination with brightness of its facial marking, indicates this Pokémon's position in its pack. The bigger the flame and the brighter the pattern, this higher the Pokémon's position. In addition to using its flaming tail as a weapon, Monferno can also leap from ceilings or walls to perform aerial attacks._

 _Ash sure kept this from his friends that his Monferno had evolved from Chimchar a few days ago when his training had finally hit the point of evolving. Dawn and Brock were just too busy and never listened to when Ash tried to show off his newly evolved Monferno to them. But they do know about the Pokémon currently standing next to Monferno._

 _It was a quadruped Pokémon with light green skin and a large shell covering its back. The shell is composed of hardened soil and conforms to the shape of its body, extending from its forehead to the tip of its short tail. The shell appears sectioned and is yellow with three long, brown ridges atop it. There are two bush-like trees growing around the outermost ridges. Its lower jaw is yellow and has triangular extensions on the cheeks, while its upper jaw has a hooked tip. Its feet are yellow and have three claws each. It was Ash's Grotle who evolved a few weeks before Chimchar did into Monferno._

 _Next to them both was an orange Pokémon resembling a weasel and a sea otter. The yellow collar that surrounds its neck can be inflated and used as a flotation device when it inhales. By inflating this sac, it can keep its face above water to watch for prey movement. It has two blue fins on its arms and a tail, which appears to be split, that resembles a fish's fin. Its tail acts as a boat propeller by spinning, though it was seen flying using its tail. There are parallel marks on their cheeks. Additionally, it has cream paw pads on its feet. It was Ash's Buizel, who was captured by Dawn but after some failed attempts to train him for contests he was traded to Ash for battling and not one of them ever regretted the trade._

 _In the air above them all were two Pokémon. One of them was a large, mainly blue-purple vampire bat-like Pokémon. Its legs have two toes and a slightly darker circular coloration on the underside, and its tail has two barbs, giving its tail the resemblance of a vampire's fangs. Its arms are red with thin striations, and are completely detached from its black wings, and each are ended with large pincers. Its ears have discernible, red, chambered ear insides, and its eyes are yellow. It has six visible fangs in its mouth, and its waist, like its arms, is red and striated. Its body resembles an open mouth, with the pointed protrusions coming from its upper torso resembling fangs, further illustrating its vampiric qualities. It was Ash's Gliscor and the first one that Ash had evolved under the conditions which involved holding an item and the time of day._

 _The other one was a grayish-brown, avian Pokémon with black and white markings. Its head and upper body are primarily black with an "M"-shaped pattern over its white chest. On its forehead is a grayish-brown spot, which is smaller on the female. On its face is a white, mask-like marking with a pattern of spikes along the lower edge. It has small, black eyes with white pupils and a long, orange beak with a black tip. On the back of its head is a long tuft of feathers, which curves forward. The lower halves of its wings are black, and it has black tail feathers with a single white feather in the center. Its orange, Anisodactyl feet have black talons. It was the very first Pokémon that Ash had caught here in Sinnoh, like the other common Flying and Normal type duel types that Ash always caught first in the other regions._

 _Darkrai looked at them all and not one of Ash's Pokémon are losing their focus or even stirring to his appearance. Normally he could feel afraid but instead he managed to make a smile that only he knew that he was making and readied himself for one heck of a fight. It was going to change both his and everyone's lives once the upcoming battle ends._

"Use **Rock Climb** Grotle and you use **Taunt** Monferno!" Ash then made his next set of moves and his two Pokémon carried them out with their experience kicking in. Grotle's claws glow white, then grow longer. He then runs quickly at the opponent and hits it with one of its claws, or slams into it with great force. He can also jump extremely high when using the attack, or Grotle's claws glow white and extend, and he gets on its hind legs and slams his front ones into the ground. A giant mountain then protrudes from the ground under the opponent. Grotle runs up the side of the mountain and slams into the opponent with great force.

But this time, Monferno hitched a ride on Grotle's back while indeed taunting the Pitch Black Pokémon by grinning and slapping his bottom in a way to enrage Darkrai; and Monferno succeed. Darkrai couldn't use any status moves which included its signature **Dark Void**.

Instead, Darkrai resorted to using attack moves. It then realized that Grotle is a grass type and from his experience, there is a move he can use against Grotle that will really deal some damage. Darkrai puts its hands together and forms a light blue ball of energy in between them. It then puts its hands in front of it and the ball grows slightly larger. It then fires light blue beams from the ball at the opponent, with all the intention to freeze it. And Darkrai is now trying to freeze Grotle.

"Counter with **Flamethrower** Monferno!" Ash saw it all and had somehow carried his voice to the two Pokémon. The fire and fighting type had heard it in the wind and unleashed a powerful stream of flames that struck at the **Ice Beam**. It was too bad that while Darkrai's attack power was dished, **Ice Beam** was still a special move and it didn't lose any power.

Monferno was only able to gain the upper hand when Darkrai's burn had kicked in hard and the Pitch-Black Pokémon some lost its focus on the **Ice Beam**. By then, the **Flamethrower** had finally landed on Darkrai and Grotle had completed his **Rock Climb**.

"Now use **Leaf Storm** Grotle!" After Monferno had to take a breather from the **Flamethrower** , Grotle raises its head and calls out, making multiple leaves gather around it and start to glow green. The leaves then spiral around Grotle in a tornado-like fashion, then it points its head at the opponent and the leaves fire at it like a cyclone, hitting it hard. And Darkrai was hit very hard.

But that was the time for Monferno's **Taunt** to subside and quicker than anyone can react, Pokémon or trainer, Darkrai used **Dark Void** on Monferno, putting the fire and fighting Pokémon to sleep and out of action, and then Darkrai's eyes flash red and it creates a shadow-like version of itself. The shadow then goes through a sleeping opponent, sucking up its energy. Monferno was a fighting type so the Psychic type move had put him out of action right on the spot and Darkrai had recovered its lost energy.

Seeing Ash and Grotle gasp at the sight, Darkrai avenged himself completely by using **Ice Beam** on Grotle. That time, there was no flamethrower to block it and Grotle fell to the power of the **Ice Beam**. "Monferno! Grotle!" Ash yelled out in disbelief and then summoned their Pokéballs, to return them back to his side. "Buizel, you can take that **Ice Beam** so use **Rain Dance** first!"

That was a very solid plan and only by one who was familiar with all the relationships his Pokémon has with other move types. Buizel dances around, always staying on one leg and switching back and forth between the two. He also moves its hands back and forth first with its palms open, then with his pointer fingers sticking up. After a while, rain clouds appear in the sky and it starts to pour. And since it is raining while not affecting the darkness of the night much, Buizel's Swift Swim ability will kick in.

That was proven when Darkrai tried to use **Dark Void** again but Buizel was able to accelerate and move out of the way. "Now use **Double Team** and then **Aqua Jet**!" **Double Team** was dependent on the Pokémon's speed in terms of how many copies it can make to confuse the target. Buizel was able to make a hundred copies and they all became surrounded by water and it rises into the air and tackles the opponent. To move, they spun their tails like a propeller.

Darkrai tried to use **Ice Beam** and **Dark Void** to hit Buizel but instead, it either missed or hit one of the fake copies. Combined with Darkrai getting hit by Buizel's **Aqua Jet** nonstop, the Pitch-lack Pokémon had enough. Darkrai furiously soared to the sky and crouches together and it extends its arms quickly, making a wave of purple circles come out of its body and hit the opponent, or Darkrai puts its hands together and forms a ball of black and purple circles. Then crouches and spins while holding out one of its hands, making the orb float over to the end of the hand. Finally, it fires a beam of black and purple circles from the orb at the ground.

The sheer might of the Dark Pulse was enough to shake the very earth, destabilizing Ash and his Pokémon while somehow destroying all the copies in one fell swoop. Now Darkrai can hit Buizel. "Use **Aqua Jet** again and at Darkrai!" Ash yelled out after getting his balance back.

Buizel engulfed his body again with water and charged for Darkrai. The Pitch-Black Pokémon tried to hit Buizel with **Dark Void** but missed every time until Darkrai chose its **Ice Beam** again. But Ash knew this will happen. "Head into it and do as we trained and practiced!"

Buizel nodded and charged into the **Ice Beam** only to have himself frozen stiff and yet Buizel was still going and hit Darkrai hard with a move that he had learned from a coordinator and mastered with a battle trainer. But all that did do so damage with a greater consequence as now, Darkrai couldn't miss Buizel anymore and the water type fell to a close strike **Dark Void** and **Dream Eater** followed by a powerful **Dark Pulse**.

"Buizel!" Ash had the look of losing hope. He pulled everything he had into his three Pokémon but Darkrai looks like it never got hurt. Time for drastic measures and really pushing to the bone if this Legendary is going down.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, Officer Jenny has taken the chance to take Cresselia away from Darkrai who has gotten too powerful even for the Luna Pokémon. She said that if this ever to happen, then Cresselia will need to grow stronger as well and to that was to first heal her back to full health and have good dreams that will enhance her powers.

But with Darkrai still kicking, it will be next to impossible for the second requirement so the trainers were forced to leave it all to Ash to weaken Darkrai so that its everlasting nightmares will at least fade.

Ash may have seen, encountered and even protected himself and others from Legendries as well as beat two of them but this Legendary Pokémon was nowhere near those levels. This Legendary Pokémon was like in its background, in the zone, the strongest it can ever be and nothing like any other wild Darkrai. That was why Darkrai was more than a match even for its polar counterpart but if Ash could weaken and exhaust Darkrai then the city will be spared.

Nurse Joy maybe no more sleepy than anyone else but she was going to give it all she had to heal Cresselia in her Pokémon Center. "Come one. Ash can't do it forever." Dawn was antsy and impatient with Nurse Joy and who wouldn't after leaving their friend to something that is nowhere above suicidal.

"Calm down Ms. Dawn. We are feeling the same things as you but we can't afford to get sloppy at a time like this." The city's Officer Jenny was still going to do her own duty even though she never got a good night's sleep.

"Yeah. We are going to do this right even if it seems to take forever." Brock could have passed off as agreeing with Officer Jenny only because he had a habit of being tied around every girl he falls for and that is better much every girl he sees around his age group.

"I know, I know. I just want to at least be there if Ash gets into trouble. He already gets into trouble, whatever he started it or not." Dawn retorted but then saw that last statement while trying to avoid the glances of the other trainers who had to release their harden stares when they saw a young girl trying her best to take every chance to help her friend.

An explosion had then rocked the Pokémon Center but they kept their focus because they had a good idea what was happening out there. They still need to get Cresselia back into action so that they could fix all this and help Ash before he runs out of Pokémon. 'Ash please be careful and be safe.' Dawn thought as she tried to put her worry aside and focus on her hopes.

XXXXX

When the trainers got back to the city square where the battle was taking place, they were greeted a very sad sight and shocking too. A Staravia and a Gliscor were found on the ground, wounded and unable to move. Their groans actually gave some relief since that means they are not dead.

And yet their Pokéballs were around so the trainers couldn't return both flying type Pokémon. But all that was forgotten when they heard a voice followed a bright light that was clear and shined even through the darkness Darkrai had created.

"Pikachu, use **Volt Tackle** and **Giga Impact**!" That was Ash's voice for sure but it was also the voice of a kid who was on the verge of crying. They were able to see Ash's Pikachu charging to Darkrai that actually looked worn out and tired with burns and bruises all over. Pikachu engulfed itself in yellow electricity of Volt Tackle but that color was mixed with the bright color of Giga Impact to make a wonder to behold. One that Darkrai was unable to stop no matter what moves it kept throwing at this Pikachu.

Darkrai was hit by Pikachu and was engulfed in an explosion of grand colors and electricity raw. Pikachu was sent into Ash's direction, out cold from that attack, but Darkrai was sent into the opposite direction, not moving. Ash then used what little sanity had left by the expression on his face to take out a Pokéball which drove the trainer's attention to see various other Pokéballs lying on the ground, useless and failed to capture Darkrai. A normal Pokéball was risky but also Ash's last resort.

The Pokéball reached the down form of Darkrai who didn't move as much as an inch the whole time and was turned into red energy and drained into the Pokéball. The Pokéball fell to the ground to determine if the capture was successful. After three shakes that seemed to last an eternality, a ding was faint but still went like a car horn in their ears.

Ash then shakily took the Pokéball in his hand and scanned it with his Pokédex that was shaking along with him. The computer voice that emerged from the Pokédex was the only thing not shaking.

 **{Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon. Legend has it that on a moonless night, Darkrai will lure people to sleep and unleash nightmares upon them. This Pokémon is Male like most of this Pokémon species. This Pokémon knows Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Snarl, Nightmare, Dark Void, Ominous Wind, Dream Eater, Nasty Plot and Calm Mind.}**

"…I did it…" Ash then said in a low and broken tone, like he was about to break apart. Dawn tried to get closer as well as Brock, in order to comfort their friend but they were beaten to the punch. Cresselia approached Ash and touched his head. Ash then looked up to Cresselia who never once flinched or falter after seeing his expression and instead smiled.

But Ash didn't. He just kept crying and shaking as if he was a newborn deer. "I am sorry." He finally spoke after relaxing his breathing but everyone still heard his low voice. "I am sorry Cresselia."

The Luna Pokémon was also curious as to why Ash was saying such things. He had saved the city and stopped the rampaging Darkrai. He even caught it, something that not even the Champions come close to doing.

Ash saw it all and explained, "With Darkrai now gone, no one needs you anymore." Everyone gasped at that statement. "The city only needed you because Darkrai had chosen to plague this place with nightmares. They only need you and welcomed you so that they can sleep well at night but now nightmares can never happen again, there is no need for a Pokémon who can quell them anymore. I am sorry Cresselia."

Everyone listening just didn't think of it that way. Ash must have gotten a surge of foresight when he had watched his Pokémon fall and did something he was expecting to fail. Then Cresselia suddenly, giggled.

 _{Don't fear young Ash.}_ A voice that sounded a lot like telepathy had emerged from Cresselia. _{You are such a wonderful and thoughtful young man and a brilliant trainer to match Darkrai at his true potential. Something that we Legendries never get to show even to the other members of our species.}_ Ash just tried to avoid all that praise, thinking he doesn't deserve it or something. _{Darkrai may be captured and subdued but he was only a Pokémon that feeds on nightmares and in turn get strong enough to cause his own. Darkrai only spread nightmares, not create them. I am still needed by these inhabitants because fear is natural and so is a nightmare. They will still need my power for peace. You didn't ruin anything Ash. You have gift, treasure it because Darkrai now serves you.}_

Ash heard every word despite his clouded mind and started to feel a little better with his tears finally dry and his frown turned into a smile. "I understand Cresselia. I thank you for all this." Ash said in a low tone and bowed to the Luna Pokémon even after she used her powers to restore the night and dispel the spell Darkrai has left on all the living beings of the city.

Dawn then decided to risk it and approached Ash who was still on the ground, clutching the ball that contains Darkrai. She then saw that Ash looked as defenseless and vulnerable as a little kid. Dawn took pity and tried hugging Ash.

When he didn't move, she gave up but when she released Ash, "Thanks." Ash spoke in a louder tone. "This is all I really want Dawn. All there is left to get some sleep, all of us." Ash then whipped his face clean of tears and begun to pick up his messes while everyone was wondering if Dawn's hug really caused a big 180 in Ash's mood. "Come on, I am sure that we will have good dreams tonight." Ash said when he turned to face them all with a grin which was almost as bright as the sun. Jenny and Brock shook their heads at the whole thing while Dawn was having a monster blush on her face for some reason.

End of Chapter 2.

 ***What do you think, I guess that I have the habit of keeping you all waiting for more but I felt like this was necessary to break off from Ash's battle with Darkrai to show how it was going with his friends with Cresselia.**

 **I hope it is good because I was getting a little worried on what to put down. I will handle any advice or criticism as an author but please no flames! Have a nice fall, it is finally here!***


	3. Ash and Darkrai

Master of Bad Dreams

Ash and Darkrai

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

 _Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,_

 _When the trainers got back to the city square where the battle was taking place, they were greeted a very sad sight and shocking too. A Staravia and a Gliscor were found on the ground, wounded and unable to move. Their groans actually gave some relief since that means they are not dead._

 _And yet their Pokéballs were around so the trainers couldn't return both flying type Pokémon. But all that was forgotten when they heard a voice followed a bright light that was clear and shined even through the darkness Darkrai had created._

 _"Pikachu, use_ _ **Volt Tackle**_ _and_ _ **Giga Impact**_ _!" That was Ash's voice for sure but it was also the voice of a kid who was on the verge of crying. They were able to see Ash's Pikachu charging to Darkrai that actually looked worn out and tired with burns and bruises all over. Pikachu engulfed itself in yellow electricity of_ _ **Volt Tackle**_ _but that color was mixed with the bright color of_ _ **Giga Impact**_ _to make a wonder to behold. One that Darkrai was unable to stop no matter what moves it kept throwing at this Pikachu._

 _Darkrai was hit by Pikachu and was engulfed in an explosion of grand colors and electricity raw. Pikachu was sent into Ash's direction, out cold from that attack, but Darkrai was sent into the opposite direction, not moving. Ash then used what little sanity had left by the expression on his face to take out a Pokéball which drove the trainer's attention to see various other Pokéballs lying on the ground, useless and failed to capture Darkrai. A normal Pokéball was risky but also Ash's last resort._

 _The Pokéball reached the down form of Darkrai who didn't move as much as an inch the whole time and was turned into red energy and drained into the Pokéball. The Pokéball fell to the ground to determine if the capture was successful. After three shakes that seemed to last an eternality, a ding was faint but still went like a car horn in their ears._

 _Ash then shakily took the Pokéball in his hand and scanned it with his Pokédex that was shaking along with him. The computer voice that emerged from the Pokédex was the only thing not shaking._

 _ **{Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon. Legend has it that on a moonless night, Darkrai will lure people to sleep and unleash nightmares upon them. This Pokémon is Male like most of this Pokémon species. This Pokémon knows Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Snarl, Nightmare, Dark Void, Ominous Wind, Dream Eater, Nasty Plot and Calm Mind.}**_

 _"…I did it…" Ash then said in a low and broken tone, like he was about to break apart. Dawn tried to get closer as well as Brock, in order to comfort their friend but they were beaten to the punch. Cresselia approached Ash and touched his head. Ash then looked up to Cresselia who never once flinched or falter after seeing his expression and instead smiled._

 _But Ash didn't. He just kept crying and shaking as if he was a newborn deer. "I am sorry." He finally spoke after relaxing his breathing but everyone still heard his low voice. "I am sorry Cresselia."_

 _The Luna Pokémon was also curious as to why Ash was saying such things. He had saved the city and stopped the rampaging Darkrai. He even caught it, something that not even the Champions come close to doing._

 _Ash saw it all and explained, "With Darkrai now gone, no one needs you anymore." Everyone gasped at that statement. "The city only needed you because Darkrai had chosen to plague this place with nightmares. They only need you and welcomed you so that they can sleep well at night but now nightmares can never happen again, there is no need for a Pokémon who can quell them anymore. I am sorry Cresselia."_

 _Everyone listening just didn't think of it that way. Ash must have gotten a surge of foresight when he had watched his Pokémon fall and did something he was expecting to fail. Then Cresselia suddenly, giggled._

{Don't fear young Ash.} _A voice that sounded a lot like telepathy had emerged from Cresselia._ {You are such a wonderful and thoughtful young man and a brilliant trainer to match Darkrai at his true potential. Something that we Legendries never get to show even to the other members of our species.} _Ash just tried to avoid all that praise, thinking he doesn't deserve it or something._ {Darkrai may be captured and subdued but he was only a Pokémon that feeds on nightmares and in turn get strong enough to cause his own. Darkrai only spread nightmares, not create them. I am still needed by these inhabitants because fear is natural and so is a nightmare. They will still need my power for peace. You didn't ruin anything Ash. You have a gift, treasure it because Darkrai now serves you.}

 _Ash heard every word despite his clouded mind and started to feel a little better with his tears finally dry and his frown turned into a smile. "I understand Cresselia. I thank you for all this." Ash said in a low tone and bowed to the Luna Pokémon even after she used her powers to restore the night and dispel the spell Darkrai has left on all the living beings of the city._

 _Dawn then decided to risk it and approached Ash who was still on the ground, clutching the ball that contains Darkrai. She then saw that Ash looked as defenseless and vulnerable as a little kid. Dawn took pity and tried hugging Ash._

 _When he didn't move, she gave up but when she released Ash, "Thanks." Ash spoke in a louder tone. "This is all I really want Dawn. All there is left to get some sleep, all of us." Ash then whipped his face clean of tears and begun to pick up his messes while everyone was wondering if Dawn's hug really caused a big 180 in Ash's mood. "Come on, I am sure that we will have good dreams tonight." Ash said when he turned to face them all with a grin which was almost as bright as the sun. Jenny and Brock shook their heads at the whole thing while Dawn was having a monster blush on her face for some reason._

"There." Ash said in a soft voice yet it spooked everyone around him. Since breakfast, Ash had been silent even during training. And when he wasn't training his Pokémon, he was tending to the single standard Pokéball that contained Darkrai from Canalave City. Ash also had been painting it with some black paint; his friends have decided that Ash wanted to some way to distinguish that Pokéball from the others. But what they didn't know was why Ash wanted to attach the Pokéball to a string of leather. "It is done." Ash added and revealed to all those looking his direction that he had the Pokéball strapped to the string of leather before placing the necklace into place.

"Are you sure that you are not taking this too seriously Ash? Trainers would be jumping in joy that they caught a Legendary Pokémon." Brock asked and was surprised to see Ash only shaking his head.

"You don't understand. Darkrai was considered to be all-evil. There should never be such a thing. Darkrai seemed to be having a bad night while I was stalling him from trying to kill Cresselia." Ash said looking down on the Pokéball as if it was a memoir. "Darkrai should never have been caught. He deserved to roam free after Cresselia used her power to calm him down so that Darkrai will leave that city and the people alone."

Brock and Dawn sighed along with Pikachu and Piplup. Ash had been acting like he committed an unforgivable crime and was allowed to walk away from it freely. And he had been doing that for a few days now since that fateful encounter at Canalave City. Ash was doing this even when they were approaching a place that Professor Oak and Professor Rowan offered to help settle their nerves; the Canalave City's Old Chateau where they make the delicious Old Gateau.

Then something finally got Ash's attention off Darkrai's Pokéball. It was the sound of the wind but that wasn't it, what got Ash out of his stupor was the sound of a door hinge freely moving. "I thought this was closed and locked up." Ash said which spooked his friends again but they soon got curious, about that.

"Of course it is. That worker said so but allowed us to wait until they got the power back up." Brock said but Ash was stubborn,

"Well that doesn't explain that door over there. It is just swaying in the wind." Ash said and his friends saw it too.

"You don't think that someone in there is trying to steal the Old Gateau!" Dawn started to panic, she really wanted to try some of the Old Gateau but this could prove that some thieves broke in and probably all the Old Gateau is stolen.

"Well then let's just see who did left the door open and show them that they can't steal the sweets we want." Ash said with a smirk seeing that got Dawn all pumped up.

"Then let's go!" Dawn charged with Piplup desperately trying to hang on to his trainer's cap. She just didn't notice that she was also dragging Ash and Pikachu along for the ride. Brock raced after them in to catch up.

Thankfully, it was short trip until they were in the main lobby of the Old Chateau. It was unnerving since the door had been left unlocked and that the power in the Chateau hadn't been restored yet at all. Pikachu however had spotted something rather strange in one of the hallways leading from the lobby. It was like something barley bigger than a microwave device but had red outlines mixed with some orange. The strangest thing was that it gave off this feeling of being an Electric Pokémon, something that Pokémon like Pikachu can naturally detect.

"Pikachu? Where are you going?" Ash said while walking after his best friend with the rest of his company following after him. They eventually found Pikachu looking at something rather silly. He was starting at a microwave device like it was some kind of wild creature. "Why would there be a microwave here in the generator room? Any of us can use it better in a kitchen." Ash said and the others nodded in agreement.

But the bigger priories were the room itself. If it is the generator room, then they can power up the Old Chateau themselves and not wait any longer for the Old Gateau. Meanwhile, Pikachu was still trying to figure out how did this Microwave device did get into the generator room and it looked a lot like the thing he saw entering the room. They must be the same but no matter what Pikachu does, nothing happens until the yellow rodent tries out the inside of the microwave. It suddenly came to life and tried to eat Pikachu!

"CHUUU~!" Pikachu tried to get it to release him by sending a **Thunderbolt** through the strange microwave. And yet this deflected off the strange microwave and landed on the generator. Luckily the trainers were able to see the attack and dodge it.

"What's wrong Pikachu? What made you attack the microwave? If you are trying to jumpstart it, at least wait until we find the kitchen." Ash said while rubbing Pikachu on the head who tried to protest and clear things up but failed under being rubbed where he loved it the most. A personal weakness to be blunt.

And before anyone could respond to all this, the lights all went on. It seemed that Pikachu's attack had jumpstarted the emergency generator instead of the microwave. Then they heard a dinging sound coming from a loud speaker up in the ceiling. [Welcome to the Old Chateau.]

They figured it was merely an automatic announcement system that activated itself once the generator turned the power back on. […where we both make and allow all of you to construct our famous Old Gateau.]

Dawn and Brock got excited to hear that the Old Chateau not only sells and makes the Old Gateau but also allows anyone to learn how to make it themselves! Following the voice to the kitchen on the directions given by the system, the trainers and Pokémon were surprised and overjoyed to see that the cooking tables had a hidden cabinet with not only the recipe but also all the ingredients needed to make Old Gateau.

Brock felt like the place was just begging for him to make the desserts and was about to get started when Ash turned to some of the cabinets closer to the walls of the kitchen. He opened them to find the same ingredients again but that was more to Ash. Dawn approached him with curiosity growing as well as a sense of concern.

"Dawn, do recognize some of these ingredients?" As if Ash had suddenly grown eyes on the back of his head, he addressed the Sinnoh local trainer. Dawn got a good look and after a while, she realized what Ash did.

"Yeah, they can also be used to make Poffins." Dawn said which made everyone else gasp in disbelief. "How did you…?" Dawn begun to ask until she noticed that Ash was approaching Brock.

"So can you finally teach me how to cook Brock? We got plenty of ingredients to teach me how to cook and an entire kitchen while we are at it." Ash asked of Brock who was in shock at this development.

"But doesn't your mom teach you…?"

"She doesn't. No matter how many times I asked and begged of her to teach me years ago, Mother will always giggled and tell me to always leave the cooking to her. And because of that, I couldn't feed myself or May or Max when I started my adventures in Hoenn. You remember that right?" Ash retorted and confused Dawn on the name Max but she knew who May is; a native trainer of Hoenn who became the 'Princess of Hoenn' with her skills at Pokémon Contests, trying out the Contests in Regions such as Johto.

After a moment of silence, Brock eventually released a huge sigh. "Fine. I will show you how to cook basically but you will need to make Poffins and the Old Gateau yourself. Sounds fair?"

"Yes." Ash answered with a hitch and then turned to Dawn again. "We will be very busy in the kitchen so why don't you explore the rest of the Old Chateau? Don't get lost." Ash smirked for extra measure. Brock chuckled at the playful jab that successfully got Dawn to twitch.

"L-like I always say, no need to worry." Dawn tried to get herself to be very convincing but her friends knew better. And yet she didn't get lost, instead found a wide room with a stage. Dawn deduced that this room was used like a ballroom since the building was the Old Chateau. Dawn was delighted to find such a room because she could practice with her Pokémon such Piplup and Buneary as well as her Pachirisu for her next contest.

Still after a good hour of practice, someone decided to crash the party. Dawn noticed a sudden breeze in the room which made her and her Pokémon shiver to a slight extent. Dawn turned to where the breeze was coming from and found a fan on the stage, left on. Dawn couldn't figure it on how a fan got into the ballroom without her noticing as she turned it off.

But it was when she tried to resume practice that the breeze returned only stronger. Dawn turned with a frustrated sigh only to forget about approaching the fan when she saw something else entirely. It was something of a yellow and white outline that is slightly shaped like a fan. That wasn't scary at first but Dawn and her Pokémon found themselves running when this strange object started to charge at them!

Dawn screamed along with her Pokémon since they couldn't stop it from chasing after them. That is, until they got through the twin doors leading into the ballroom, they closed them while leaning on the doors in an effort to keep them closed. "Dawn!"

The Sinnoh girl trainer looked to see Ash racing towards her with his Pikachu, Monferno, Gliscor, Staravia and Buizel out with him. "We heard you screaming and came to see what is up. Was something chasing you?" Dawn nodded vigorously. "Then where is it?"

"Inside here! It was orange and white and looked lot like the fan that appeared inside the room!" Dawn started say until she felt Ash place a hand on her shoulder, somehow silencing her completely. But that was brief when Ash gently shoved her aside to open the doors.

"That fan?" Ash then said and pointed to a portable room fan that was merely standing behind the doors. Dawn nodded, hiding behind Ash who just took out a normal Pokémon and threw it at the fan. It simply the flick of his wrist and yet the ball hit the fan hard enough to knock over to its backside. But that wasn't what confused and shocked Dawn, it was that something from the fan had emerged and entered the Pokéball; after shaking the usual three times, Dawn was expecting the Pokémon inside to escape and yet the ball dinged for a capture instead. "Just like the lawnmower and the washing machine." Ash muttered and yet his Pokémon nodded.

"What lawnmower and what washing machine?" Dawn no longer felt scared and felt more confused in a way that she was assertive to get her answers. "I thought you will be in the kitchen with Brock."

"I was and after he showed me all the basics to cooking, he allowed me to try at the Poffins. They didn't take long at all but according to the recipe, the Old Gateau will take much longer. Brock told me to leave the batter with him as he overlooked them cook." Ash explained with Pikachu nodding in agreement. "So I thought that I should spend that time out in the garden training my Pokémon. That is until we came across this lawnmower in the garden until it transformed into something of what you just saw. So I thought it was one of the 'ghosts' that engineer told us ages ago." Dawn nodded. "My Pokémon and I tried to fight it but every time we tried for an attack, it will just transform back into a lawnmower so I decided to try catching it. It went into that Pokéball as easily as this 'ghost' Dawn." This time, all of Ash's Pokémon nodded in agreement.

Dawn eventually released a huge sigh in a similar way as Brock did a little over an hour ago. "And the washing machine?" She didn't want to forget about that and Ash didn't either.

"We encountered something of a washing machine after entering the Old Chateau, to ask Brock if he had any idea what this thing was. It tried to soak us to the bone and yet it behaved a lot like that first one in the garden so I tried to catch the same way and I got the same results as well." Once again, all of Ash's Pokémon nodded. It was beginning to be clear that something is happening to Ash or that he can sure tell a story and counted on his Pokémon to back him up.

Then they realized something they had been forgetting,

"Brock!"

"Brock!"

The two trainers returned their Pokémon and hurried back to the kitchen where the traveling Gym Leader was busy with the food, oblivious to all that is happening around him. Except that inside the kitchen was another one or two of the 'ghosts' but Brock just won't notice until he happened to turn to see something of a refrigerator with orange and white outlines, using **Blizzard** on them!

That got the trainers and Pokémon out of the kitchen along with some of the uncooked Gateau that Brock was taking care of. But before they can get far, they came across something that Pikachu recognized from the moment they first entered the Chateau; the microwave shaped being that resembled just what was playing pranks on them all day!

"No more pranks! Pikachu, use **Thunderbolt**!"

"Piplup, use **Bubble Beam**!"

Both attacks can at the being, interrupting its **Overheat** attack and forced it to the ground until the outline left the microwave and finally showed its real face. What came out of the microwave was something that neither Ash nor Dawn had ever seen. It must have been a Pokémon. Its body was small and shaped like a lightning rod. There was this whitish blue aura of electricity around it that formed lightning bolt-shaped arms. It also had teeth, and its unique, blue eyes have a dividing line across them.

 **{Rotom, the Plasma Pokémon. Rotom plays practical jokes, which it carries out by embedding its plasma body in electronic devices.}**

Dawn and the other Pokémon were still frighten by this Rotom but Ash just wasn't amused at all. "I don't see what is so funny about pranking people who just want to make you good food. I am not laughing Rotom and therefore, your jokes are not funny." That could get the lighting Rotom's attention but what really set the silence in the room was the chilling sensation that the Plasma Pokémon felt that made it shiver. "And he agrees for once Rotom." Ash said with a puff of cold air exiting his body with his words.

And then, out of the shadow Ash was making with the help of the setting sun and the lights off in the hallway, came a very familiar and menacing being that was the stuff that nightmares were made of. Dawn, Piplup and Pikachu all ran behind Ash who seemed to be the only one not running in terror; no doubt that is because Ash needed to be a much better type of trainer for this Pokémon especially.

"So do you still want to laugh at out mischief or be something ten times better than that?" Ash said turning to see that the Rotom was frozen in fear for once. No doubt because of the entrance and presence of Darkrai. Dawn nearly forgot that Ash said he release _all_ of his Pokémon into the garden for training until the gang of Rotom begun to ruin their day. "You all have the ability to interact with electricity and electronics better than anyone. Our engineers need Pokémon like you so they can make life much better for everyone. You are just doing the opposite so that people and other Pokémon alike will fear and hate you." Ash said in a cold tone that matched the terror Darkrai was causing for the Rotom.

The Rotom then felt like a comedian on stage to an audience that isn't laughing and booing instead. It felt like just sinking into the ground but instead felt some kind of ghostly hand pulling back above. "I am not done with your Rotom. I have plans for all your brothers." Ash looked like a boss with a creepy smile on his face; like whatever is going to happen, he is certainly going to enjoy it.

Later,

"Bye kids! Thanks for everything!" That same engineer, who told the trainers about the 'Ghost of the Old Chateau', said his goodbyes while being accompanied by four Rotom; the ones who processed a refrigerator, a lawnmower, an electric fan, and a washing machine. Ash, with the help of Darkrai, had somehow convinced the gang of Rotom to, instead of playing pranks, actually help run the Old Chateau and continue to make the Old Gateau. The engineer was grateful and awed to see the miracle Ash had made and opened the place up again; thankfully, he never learned about Ash's Darkrai.

Meanwhile, Ash and the gang took a little break on a bench after a good walk from the Old Chateau. After the adventure with the Rotom now over, it was finally time to try out the Old Gateau and dared try Ash's Poffins; thankfully, Ash had them in a bag during the entire hassle with the Rotom after an hour of learning how to cook.

When the Pokémon tried it, they nearly fell over due to how delicious it was. Ash and the gang couldn't resist sending out all their Pokémon to try it too; they all loved it. But still there were two Pokémon during the party that weren't eating the Poffins and not because they thought they were gross. They were just unsure.

"Why is this Rotom here Ash? I thought it will still back at the Old Chateau." Brock asked and Dawn nodded. Pretty soon, all of the other Pokémon begun to notice it too. Also they noticed that this Rotom was not happy with all the attention and ran towards Ash's arm.

"W-what?" Dawn could only say in shock, this wasn't a bit like the Rotom who tried to toast them alive with a microwave.

"This Rotom is the youngest out of the others back at the Old Chateau. He didn't want to hurt anyone and thought that playing pranks will be fun and funny. Those other Room however, didn't care whatever people got hurt or not." Ash said and his friends, trainer and Pokémon, then realized that while this Rotom was possessing a microwave, it never got close to harming them as much as the other Rotom in their other forms. "Now he wants to go out and be a Rotom that will help others now. It helped to be the trainer of an _active_ Electric type Pokémon to learn all this." Ash added while slowly turning to Pikachu who could only feel a little ashamed since he knew what Ash was talking about.

"So why doesn't he go with you Ash? You obviously know him better than the rest of us." Dawn asked and Ash had gotten a distant look on his face.

"Because I wanted the chance to ask Pikachu if that was okay." That certainly wasn't one of the possible answers everyone was hoping for. "Ever since day one, I never even dared to catch another Electric Pokémon because I thought that Pikachu will never want that to happen. Now I have the chance but it is a decision that I felt Pikachu deserves to also make it."

Once Ash was done, Pikachu was rubbing cheeks and had the look in his eyes that he doesn't mind Rotom on the team. To prove this, Pikachu reached in for one of Ash's personal Pokéballs; the one who captured the other four Rotom were given to Ash by the engineer so that if Ash did catch the 'Ghosts' they will rightfully belong to the latter. Ash didn't mind, he didn't want to force Pokémon onto his roster without knowing that someone else could use them better than he could.

Ash then grasped that Pokéball and looked at Pikachu one last time to confirm all this, Pikachu nodded and Ash tapped the head of Rotom who hadn't budged an inch since all this started. That was how Rotom was caught, in a similar yet gentler way than the previous four. Everyone then witnessed Buizel disappearing as his Pokéball was sent automatically to the farm back in Kanto.

'Ash…you never did such a thing to catch Pokémon. You really have grown up.' Brock thought as flashbacks to all the adventures he spent with Ash and noticed that the two raven haired trainers now looked barely alike. "Come on Ash, let's eat the Old Gateau we made. That will cheer us up."

Ash happened to hear Brock and nodded. He then joined up with everyone who took a piece of the Old Gateau and enjoyed the delicious desert. Darkrai also enjoyed it too which only confused him; is this really want people do when they are not dreaming and having nightmares?

XXXXX

Even though they spent some time at the Old Chateau and enjoy some deserts like the Old Gateau, Ash's next Pokémon Gym Battle still had to wait. And while they were at it, Ash tried to find a good place to train his Darkrai in private but only proved to be very difficult as of the time being; so Darkrai just stayed in the Pokéball on Ash's necklace.

So Ash was ignoring the stares as he trained his new Rotom instead. And for such a young Pokémon, this one sure was over eager to train despite already showing great power in terms of **Shock Wave** , **Substitute** , **Ominous Wind** , **Shadow Ball** and surprisingly **Discharge**. Ash didn't know any other moves to teach so he had to improvise on merely training Rotom to use all those moves in the best way possible, with all sorts of tactics and strategies.

But what really made this day one to never forget was Dawn and her Piloswine given that the latter had evolved just a few days ago when Team Rocket firstly enraged Darkrai. As for what was wrong with Piloswine, it was the appetite and lack of desire to battle. Instead of trying out moves or patterns or combos, Piloswine will just act on his own to always find food and eat it when he does.

This even landed them where Team Rocket was merely having a picnic and when Piloswine got the scent of their food, he used Ice Shard on them and sent them flying away so he can munch on the food.

While Dawn was lamenting on how she caused all this by forcing Swinub to evolve so quickly. Brock and Ash told her about how it happened mainly with one of the latter's Pokémon back in Kanto which costed him his place in the Kanto League and it took until Johto to set up a good bond. She never imagined that one of her best friends had to suffer something like this.

But when they were planning on their next step with Piloswine, they were dragged into a supposed 'Pokémon School' by very shady characters who said that they can solve their problem. Ash was skeptical and only joined along since it was the only way to get to see what this was all about; he had a feeling this was a scam and something else. And it was! It was Team Rocket who were unhappy that they were 'blasted off' after the 'twerps stole their lunch'. And when they managed to trap the gang's Pokémon, they decided to add salt to the wounds by attacking Piloswine who was in a position that he couldn't do a thing even help himself; that is until one last attack got him glowing in a bright white, the sign of a Pokémon Evolution.

Once it was completed, Piloswine resembled more like a wooly mammoth crossed with a boar. Its brown fur were more refined instead of being all lush and uncombed. The fur on its muzzle is tan and shaggy, and its nose resembles that of a pig. Its tusks seemed to be made of pure, solid ice. There was a blue mask-like pattern with a white rim around its face. Its feet are black with three thick toes, and its tail grew small.

"Brock, do you know what Piloswine evolved into?" Ash said while Dawn took out her pink colored Pokédex.

"Yes! It is now a Mamoswine!" Brock shouted and on cue, the computer like voice spoke the same name.

 **{Mamoswine, the Twin Tusk Pokémon and the evolved form of Piloswine. Distinguished by its large tusks, its weight is more than five times that of Piloswine, and is less commonly found since the end of the ice age.}**

Unfortunately, that meant less and less room in that tiny cage compared to how big Piloswine had become now he was a Mamoswine. The cage didn't last even five seconds when the steel bars gave in to the sudden increase in size, freeing all of the Pokémon! Speaking of whom, they all were sent into the direction of their trainers and hurried to the comfort of their arms. "Dawn! Let's see just how powerful your new Pokémon is! Try what I have been telling you!"

Dawn was worried for sure since she was unable to get Piloswine to obey before evolving once again; she didn't even want to imagine the mess Mamoswine will prove to be. Still, "O-okay Ash." She turned to her newly evolved Pokémon and said, "Mamoswine, they are going to take away all the food for breaking their cage and they are going to strike you for it!" Dawn had learned that if Pokémon are not going to do attacks on the name, a little extra motivation will come a long way; it is all Ash on this one.

And it seemed to have worked as Mamoswine took the bait and turned its attention to Team Rocket. Without giving them a chance to even respond, Mamoswine used Ice Shard to freeze again and tackled the ice block to send them flying or 'blasting off'. That was it for Team Rocket as of this adventure.

After everything that happened today, it was time to finally give the adventure a rest and the adventurers a rest themselves. Mamoswine still felt really bad for all the trouble he had caused since he felt like he was born with a disobedience streak with his evolution. That is while he offered for his trainer to take a little nap in his fur, as the first step to saying sorry.

The only problem is that his trainer didn't want to be anywhere without Ash that evening so Mamoswine made the best of it; Dawn got to be around Mamoswine but mostly in the comfort of Ash. Mamoswine just didn't want to argue with Ash's glare which made the latter look like a demon daring him to do anything more to Dawn who had a bad day as it is.

Ash didn't fall asleep at all though, he had one thing on his mind that prevented him from nodding off. He just waited until it was just him and Dawn and Mamoswine in the shade of the shadow of the tree where they found themselves really comfortable. And speaking of which, a familiar and eerie face emerged from the tree's shadow and approached the couple of trainers napping with Mamoswine.

"Tell me what you see Darkrai." Ash said without any fear. Darkrai stopped within a few meters and stared at the sight that his trainer was in. Darkrai couldn't understand what was so great about having others clamp on you like a snake trying to squeeze the life out of their prey. Or a bear asking for its prey to sleep so the bear can feed on its prey. And yet Darkrai also felt something else.

It was a feeling that felt warm compared to the coldness of the nightmares Darkrai always feel as part of him and that is why he feels that he must live for nightmares and to do that, he must cause more and more. And he did until he was stopped by a human boy who sent his Pokémon to the fighting for him until he forced into some kind of prison in the shape and size of a rock.

The feeling was like waking up from a good dream for once, to the rays of sunlight that come at dawn and begin the new day. Darkrai couldn't label or describe it better since this is the first time he felt such a thing and never did felt it before in every night he spent spreading nightmares. What else is there to life than restless nights?

XXXXX

The week has been hectic as Ash still attempts to challenge for his sixth gym badge and now he heard that the Gym Leader, Byron, is not only one himself but the father of another one, Roark of Oreburgh City. They argued on who loved fossils more and even tried to settle their bitterness with a Pokémon battle; Byron ultimately came out on top with his defensive Steel type Pokémon using **Iron Defense** to take in all of Roark's attacks which included mostly **Zen Headbutt**. That was how Byron had defeated his son and now Ash is the only one that the former hadn't faced yet but this time as a Gym Leader.

"The battle between Canalave City Leader Byron and Trainer Ash Ketchum will now begin once both trainers release their first Pokémon." Currently, both said trainers are now on the battlefield, facing each other down. They both will fight to win. To obey the referee, they both took out a Pokéball and threw them out for all to witness.

"Bronzor, shine like the sun!"

Out of Byron's Pokéball came a flat, circular, blue-green Pokémon. Six dark blue spheres bulge from its rim. It has two round, yellow eyes and a large nose-like sphere surrounded by four small circles in its center. A crest resembling an herb or branch is on its back. This Pokémon was, according to the Pokédex, a Steel and Psychic type matching Byron's theme of Steel type Pokémon.

Dawn checked it out on her pink Pokédex,

 **{Bronzor, the Bronze Pokémon. Ancient people believed that the pattern on Bronzor's back contained a mysterious power.}**

But Ash knew just the right Pokémon for this. "Monferno, you're up!" Ash had chosen the little fire starter type of Sinnoh that had evolved shortly before first arriving in Canalave City with his trainer.

"As both trainers had sent out their first Pokémon, the battle will begin!" The referee gave the okay and Ash got to use the first move.

" **Mach Punch**!" Given Monferno's given speed that dominated any Steel type and the circumstances of a fighting type move like Mach Punch, it was no big shock that Monferno was able to get to Bronzor and make the first strike before the Bronze Pokémon could even fight back. " **Overheat**!" Ash used the chance as Monferno still has Bronzor in range even after the **Mach Punch** did cause the Bronze Pokémon to stagger backwards. Still there was something wrong when **Overheat** landed on Bronzor. "Get back Monferno!"

The Playful Pokémon sensed it too and used its natural born speed to retreat. He then noticed that even though the **Overheat** was close proximity, Bronzor seemed to take very little damage. Byron had noticed it as well and started to holler in laughter,

"Very nice eyes there young man! You have noticed it too?" He shouted with an accent that matched his advancing age and eccentric nature given that he couldn't even take a shower or go to bed without at least a shovel in hand. He also didn't amuse Ash with his poses once they finally got the date right for a Gym Battle. "That's right, a Bronzor can either have Levitate or Heatproof. Both of these abilities help against two of the general weaknesses to a Steel type Pokémon. His Psychic typing helps neutral the weakness to Fighting type moves. My Bronzor has Heatproof which cuts downs the power of Fire type moves down to one half. It will be like Bronzor never had a weakness to Fire type moves in the first place!" Byron explained it all to Ash who didn't seem to be listening until,

"Now!" Ash yelled and Byron realized that he got carried away and that costed his Bronzor a lot of health when Monferno emerged from the ground and landed a super effective **Dig** attack on it. " **Sunny Day** and then **Fire Blast**!" Monferno glowed with the flame on the tip of his tail that had really turned up the heat inside the battle room before sending out a burst of flames in the shape of the Kanji for 'fire'. Even though Bronzor still had Heatproof as its ability, that **Fire Blast** still did a considerable amount of damage.

"You may have caught us off guard but not anymore young man!" Byron somehow was still confident enough to still pose for everyone to sweat drop at. "Bronzor, use **Rain Dance**!" Bronzor's body glowed white and releases steam from its body, causing a large raincloud to appear above the battlefield.

"Monferno…" Ash said to the angry Playful Pokémon that wasn't happy to be drenched in the downpour, with it pouring down Monferno can never do even a quarter of the damage he had been causing as of late. "Simply use **Nasty Plot**." Monferno nodded and sat down on the wet battleground, thinking hard. Hard enough to increase the power of his special attacks.

"Now use **Gyro Ball**!" Byron shouted and Bronzor span at a fast speed and three light blue rings surround Bronzor's body. Bronzor then moves to spin right into Monferno as the Playful Pokémon remains in his spot on the soaked battlefield.

"Monferno, take it with **Bulk Up**." And Monferno did, stiffing up his muscles to take the damage from the **Gyro Ball**. "Now send it back with **Overheat** again. Then use **Will-o-Wisp** on Bronzor." Even with the effects of **Rain Dance** lowering the power of Fire type attacks, **Overheat** was still strong enough to launch Bronzor off of Monferno but this time, he caused the Bronze Pokémon to be inflicted with a burn status aliment this time.

"Bronzor, hang in there!" Byron realized what Ash was trying to do; to cause some fire type damage despite the ability Heatproof in play while lowering the attack power of **Gyro Ball**. "Use **Hypnosis**!" It was time to change some tactics for Bronzor who steadied itself to shine some hypnotizing lights from its two eyes.

"Use **Sand Attack** to block it!" As soon as Ash gave off that usual request, Monferno already took some dirt from the battlefield and threw them into the air like some kind of sandy shield. But the **Hypnosis** wet through anyways,

"Now use **Gyro Ball**!" Byron thought he had Monferno until Bronzor hit one of the rocks on the battlefield instead of the Playful Pokémon. "What!?"

"Emerge!" Ash yelled out and when Monferno landed another super-effective **Dig** move on Bronzor, everyone understood what happened. The **Sand Attack** wasn't to block Hypnosis but to cover up Monferno digging into the ground with **Dig** until Bronzor got into range in a vain attempt to use **Gyro Ball**. "Now finish with **Close Combat**!" With the burn and the mean landing delaying Bronzor of getting away safety, the Bronze Pokémon eventually fell victim to the Fighting type move and landed on the ground again; defeated.

"Bronzor is unable to battle! Monferno wins!" The referee announced as Byron returned his Pokémon, feeling ashamed that he had let this happen to one of his own Pokémon because he wanted to show off to Ash. "Now will Gym Leader Byron please release his next Pokémon?"

"Fine! I will fight a lot more serious if that is what you want! Steelix, carve tunnels though iron mountains for us!" Byron shouted and released the Iron Snake Pokémon that Ash and Brock had encountered in Johto but Dawn had to check it out anyways.

 **{Steelix, the Iron Snake Pokémon, and the evolved form of Onix. Steelix's body is much harder than any metal as it is tempered underground under high pressure and heat.}**

"Battle begin!" The referee did his duty and Bryon decided to go for the first attack this time.

"Use **Dragon Breath**!" Steelix opened it large jaw and released a colorful breeze from within and at Monferno who didn't even looked worried.

"Dodge and then **Mach Punch**!" Monferno moved in a done a super-effective Fighting type move but then the next set of instructions had surprised everyone else, especially when Monferno followed them all thoroughly. "Now use **Will-O-Wisp** and then **U-turn**!" Dawn was surprised when she heard such a move like **U-turn**.

She got her answer when Monferno had managed to give Steelix a good burn before attacking again only to jump backwards and into Ash's Pokéball! "W-what!? What happened!?"

"Ash had been keeping some surprises from us." Brock said and turned to Dawn. " **U-turn** is a move that most Fighting type Pokémon can learn against their weakness to Psychic type moves since it is a bug-type move. It not only does damage but also legally sends a Pokémon back to the Pokéball. That is how a Pokémon can switch out even in a Pokémon battle with substitutions are illegal other than **Baton Pass**. That is all to it Dawn."

Dawn was in awe at this, can Ash really think of all these tactics and keep them secure in his mind until the time comes to it? She soon put all of her attention onto the battlefield to see just what Pokémon Ash will send out as a result of using **U-turn**.

"Now it is your turn to shine. Go!" Ash said when he took out another Pokéball. And out came was…a microwave? Still, everyone but Ash's group recognized that microwave somehow. That was why Byron still called out for the first move,

" **Screech** and then **Bind**!" Steelix moved and released a high-pitched screech that in turn, released a beam of invisible shockwaves that distort the air. It hit the microwave and only got to shake violently. Then Steelix wrapped its tail around the kitchen appliance with the intent of crushing it. All while ignoring the damage done by its burn until,

" **Overheat**!" Steelix roared with pain when it was engulfed in a fury of flames coming from the microwave! That caused Steelix to release it and was shocked to see the microwave transform into something else completely. It was similar in size and shape with a red and white outline that had some appendages in the shape of oven mitts made from this aura.

"Ah!" Byron realized that he once again had fallen for one of Ash's tactics again and got his Steelix to suffer some super-effective damage. "A Rotom! They are rare! I never thought that a trainer such as yourself will have one!"

"Then you shouldn't have because you will get a headache Byron. Rotom, use **Hex** (1)!" Ash said and that shocked everyone since not a single one of them had recognized that move. Rotom obeyed anyways and created intimidating purple eye or uses its own glowing red eyes to glare at Steelix who could only suffer under that and its burn. In fact, that burn had caused this strange move to double in power.

"What kind of move is Hex?" Dawn turned to Brock who was still in shock and can only shake his head as he didn't know either. But Ash sure did,

"Well Byron, you better make this clear to the other trainers that there is still a much of moves that Ghost types can use." Ash said with his Rotom on standby. Byron signaled for another employee other than the referee to take notes on this. "When I discovered the move **Hex** being used by Rotom, I wanted to see what type it was and it never worked on my Staravia unlike with my other Pokémon. Also, when it happened to use it after one of my Pokémon had gotten a status aliment like burn or confusion, it became twice as strong as when it was used on the same Pokémon who didn't have such things. So write those down and figured out the rest because I am just a trainer." Ash said and that employee nodded while writing it all down in note form. "Now let's get back to business, use **Ominous Wind**!"

Rotom nodded and created a gust of repulsive wind against Steelix. Too bad the secondary effects didn't happen. Still, Byron was able to get his head back in the game after dismissing that note taker.

"Okay then young man, use **Dig**!" Steelix dug its way into the battlefield, leaving Rotom to giggle for a reason that left Byron confused.

"Rotom, use **Substitute**." Rotom then created a lookalike in his place just around when Steelix emerged from using **Dig**. " **Shadow Ball**!" Rotom created a ball of dark and eerie energy at Steelix, causing a considerable amount of damage while the burn did some itself.

"Use **Iron Tail**!" Steelix's tail glowed and sent Rotom to the ground with as little damage as possible since Rotom's typing made it double resistant to Steel type attacks.

"Now use **Earthquake**!" Steelix landed back on the ground and shook the battlefield with hopes of doing super-effective damage to Rotom but instead, the Plasma Pokémon lifted off the ground before the Earthquake could even get near him. "Arrgh!" Byron yelled in painful realization that he forgot what Rotom's only ability is. "Levitate!"

" **Overheat** and then **Hex**!" Ash decided to take this chance while Steelix was also in shock when the Iron Snake Pokémon finally realized why his **Dig** attacks never worked on Rotom. This hesitation had costed him when Rotom had unleashed another vortex of flames on him and then used **Hex** again on account of his burn. Steelix finally fell to Rotom.

"Steelix is unable to battle! Rotom wins! Now will Gym Leader Byron please release his final Pokémon?" The referee announced while Byron returned his Steelix. The Gym Leader is feeling really humiliated now and right in eyes of his own son.

"Okay, it is time to act serious. And this time, no mercy!" Byron said and opened one last Pokéball. And out came was the very Pokémon that gave Roark a run for his money before ultimately losing to his own father. The Pokémon was a sight to behold and appeared to be a cross between a _Zuniceratops_ and a bulldozer. Its dark gray, square head resembles a castle wall, complete with four cream yellow, window-like spots with a black outline, three dark gray spikes on the top, and two larger gray spikes in the upper corners. Its triangular nose extends from the middle of its shield-like head down over its lips and appears to be pierced by a gray, horizontal spike. Four spikes jut downward and four large, blunt tusks protrude upward from its dark gray lower jaw. Its cream yellow eyes are partially obscured by the nasal spike and spaced-out tusks. Its thick, cream yellow body is further protected by a gray ridge and dark gray plates on its back, jagged growths on its legs, and a plated tail.

Ash took the chance to scan it for the books for later,

 **{Bastiodon, the Shield Pokémon and the evolved form of Shieldon. Its massively powerful shield-like face can deflect even the strongest of attacks.}**

"Battle begin!" The referee announced and Byron went for the first move once again,

"Use **Iron Defense**!" Byron was known as a tough trainer with his Bastiodon and its nigh invulnerability that came with the ultimate defense that was reinforced with **Iron Defense**. And yet attacking was not what Ash had in mind, for Rotom at least.

"Okay Rotom, let's give them one last surprise before we get serious." Ash said in an encrypted tone and yet Rotom nodded. "Use **Volt Switch** (1)!" This one was for the book on Pokémon moves when Rotom created a large ball of lightning that struck Bastiodon in a flash of brilliant light until Rotom head straight for its Pokéball. "You can guess what kind of move **Volt Switch** is Byron and meanwhile, Gliscor go!"

Ash then released his Fang Scorpion Pokémon to the battle field, hovering over the wrecked ground on his Flying typing. Byron wanted to see just what kind of Pokémon this one is going to be.

" **Flamethrower**!" Bastiodon let out a fierce stream of flames from its large mouth and yet Gliscor was able to take it. This was nothing compared to Monferno's own **Flamethrower** or Rotom's **Overheat** during the past few days of triple training that Ash had given them ever since the latter had caught Darkrai. " **Iron Head**!" Bastiodon's body becomes surrounded by a white aura, making it seem black and white as it ran towards Gliscor.

" **Feint Attack**!" Ash called out and Gliscor moved in a way it distracted Bastiodon while the Shield Pokémon was still using **Iron Head**. Then the Fang Scorpion Pokémon attacked where and when Bastiodon was least expecting; the back side of the face shield. " **Aqua Tail**!" No one saw that coming as Gliscor engulfed his tail in water and sent out a spiral made of it at Bastiodon, doing some super-effective damage.

" **Flash Cannon**!" The inside of Bastiodon's mouth glows white and it fires a silver beam of energy from its mouth at Gliscor, finally doing some damage as the Fang Scorpion had limited experience with Steel type moves like **Flash Cannon**.

"Hang in there and use **Hone Claws** (3)!" No one knew where Ash were pulling all this unknown moves from but it was making the match very exciting. They just witnessed Gliscor sharpen his fangs and claws while focusing on the target. "Again!"

"Don't let Gliscor do anything else Bastiodon! Use **Metal Burst**!" Bastiodon's body glows metallic as an opponent attacks it and it opens its mouth, forming a white ball in front of its mouth. Bastiodon then fires the white ball at Gliscor who saw it but couldn't figure out to dodge it or do what Ash told him to do. Thankfully neither of those happened when Ash commanded Gliscor to,

" **Double Team**!" Gliscor nodded and moved so fast that it seemed he created replicas of himself and not just that but replicas as in the almost a hundred of them. Bastiodon's attack missed the original and now the Shield Pokémon doesn't know where the real Gliscor is. " **Hone Claws** one more time!" Gliscor and his various, fake copies all did the action which only proved to confuse Bastiodon even more.

"Before you can play with us anymore, Bastiodon use **Sandstorm**!" Byron was not going to make this easier for Ash and his Gliscor. Bastiodon stirred up all the sand and dirt on the battlefield with some of the rocks from its own body. The sandstorm, as a result, attacked every single one of the illusions so that Bastiodon can find the real Gliscor. And yet, all of the Gliscor in sight only proved to be illusions! "Then where is the real one!?" Byron looked left, looked right and even looked up but didn't see Gliscor so, "He must be underground, use **Earthquake**!"

Bastiodon lifted one of its large and heavy legs to shake the battlefield and stir up the boulders to force Gliscor out but only rocks and boulders came out, no Fang Scorpion Pokémon at all! Byron was at a lost until, "Now! **Giga Impact**!" Byron and Bastiodon final found Gliscor, who revealed to be in the sandstorm all this time! And both of them had no time to respond when the Fang Scorpion Pokémon moved in range to hit the Shield Pokémon and yet, "Then **Sky Uppercut**!" Ash was not done with his commands of Gliscor.

Normally, a move like **Giga Impact** will only exhaust the user to point of needing to recharge before using any other moves but it seems that Ash and Gliscor had found a way around this by obeying the laws of energy conversation; energy and motion is never wasted and yet never recovered, it just converts from potential energy to kinetic energy and vice versa. That explained how Gliscor was able to change direction mere millimeters from the ground, from earthward to heavenward or from downward to upward if you prefer.

All this had allowed Gliscor to land some serious damage from the power of an otherwise ineffective move added to that of a move that is super effective sixteen time fold. "Bastiodon!" Byron cried out for his Shield Pokémon who was hit dead on with some much power, Bastiodon's defenses will barely make any difference. There was this sickling sound of a shield cracking to the force of a raging bull as Bastiodon was sent flying hard into the back of the battlefield room to Ash's side.

After a long and suspenseful moment of silence, Bastiodon haven't moved an inch from its crater in the area behind Byron. The referee knew what the verdict, "Bastiodon is unable to battle! Now that Gym Leader Byron is out of fightable Pokémon, Ash Ketchum from Kanto is the winner of this Gym Battle!" The crowds cheered for this exciting fight and how Ash pretty much took everyone by surprise with all those tactics. He sure has come a long way from a trainer that thought only sheer force is the way to win battles. He left that way of training ages ago even before he first set foot in the Sinnoh Pokémon Region.

Meanwhile, Ash returned his Gliscor who gave a reassuring smile despite the sharp panting. The raven haired trainer did find himself smiling a bit warm since that reflected the feeling he had in hear that all that hard training and pulling through the harsh trial with Darkrai had finally shown so positive results. Then he saw Byron approaching him with something in his hands that wasn't a Pokéball.

"Here Ash, take it. You really have impressed me today Ash. You even helped me realize just how I have been treating my son like. Thank you." Byron said in a more mature and respectful tone as he revealed the Canalave City Gym Badge on top of a display platter; something that seemed to be a tradition here in Sinnoh, the other Gym Leaders just give the badge itself with their bare hands. The Badge was shaped like three stones and three pickaxes combined

As Ash walked out of the Pokémon Gym with his latest Gym Badge, he suddenly turned to face the shadow the building was making as the sun shined on the other side. "I know you have been watching all that Darkrai. So tell me what you think about Pokémon battling. Is it really putting Pokémon to the death?"

Not waiting for a spoken answer, Darkrai just emerged from the area the shadow was covering and looked at Ash. Not with eyes of hate or anger but of curiosity. Darkrai did indeed watch the Gym Battle and found himself impressed that no Pokémon were actually hurt severally like he had imagined they would in a Pokémon battle. Instead, Ash entertained him with skill and resourcefulness but more importantly, Ash had understood his opponents and his Pokémon clearly; as they say, 'know your opponent and yourself and you will win a hundred battles without failure'. Looks like they weren't kidding.

Was there more to life in the daylight then fighting and displaying ones strength to impressive others and feel the pleasure of power? Just what is with this trainer that makes Darkrai want to learn more about? A lot more.

End of Chapter 3.

 ***Hey! I hadn't touched this story in two months! Yikes! I am hoping that you all have been waiting for this!**

 **Another thing, sorry about publishing a story you didn't like. I needed to see just what I can make with the Rising of the Shield Hero series. If you don't like it then you don't need to read it anymore. I will try harder to please you starting from this chapter. Please tell me what you think and another thousand pardons for letting you all down!***

 **I did realize that Hex was introduced in Gen V but I have seen such things in other fanfiction that featured Ash's Sinnoh journeys. So I hope that this doesn't cause any confusion.**

 **Like I said before, I know that Volt Switch was introduced in Gen V like Hex was as well. I can't find any other reason for including this move than the one I gave with Rotom using Hex.**

 **Same as Hex and Volt Switch.**


	4. The Bond of Darkrai Grows!

Master of Bad Dreams

The Bond of Darkrai Grows!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

 _Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,_

 _After a long and suspenseful moment of silence, Bastiodon haven't moved an inch from its crater in the area behind Byron. The referee knew what the verdict, "Bastiodon is unable to battle! Now that Gym Leader Byron is out of fightable Pokémon, Ash Ketchum from Kanto is the winner of this Gym Battle!" The crowds cheered for this exciting fight and how Ash pretty much took everyone by surprise with all those tactics. He sure has come a long way from a trainer that thought only sheer force is the way to win battles. He left that way of training ages ago even before he first set foot in the Sinnoh Pokémon Region._

 _Meanwhile, Ash returned his Gliscor who gave a reassuring smile despite the sharp panting. The raven haired trainer did find himself smiling a bit warm since that reflected the feeling he had in hear that all that hard training and pulling through the harsh trial with Darkrai had finally shown so positive results. Then he saw Byron approaching him with something in his hands that wasn't a Pokéball._

 _"Here Ash, take it. You really have impressed me today Ash. You even helped me realize just how I have been treating my son like. Thank you." Byron said in a more mature and respectful tone as he revealed the Canalave City Gym Badge on top of a display platter; something that seemed to be a tradition here in Sinnoh, the other Gym Leaders just give the badge itself with their bare hands. The Badge was shaped like three stones and three pickaxes combined_

 _As Ash walked out of the Pokémon Gym with his latest Gym Badge, he suddenly turned to face the shadow the building was making as the sun shined on the other side. "I know you have been watching all that Darkrai. So tell me what you think about Pokémon battling. Is it really putting Pokémon to the death?"_

 _Not waiting for a spoken answer, Darkrai just emerged from the area the shadow was covering and looked at Ash. Not with eyes of hate or anger but of curiosity. Darkrai did indeed watch the Gym Battle and found himself impressed that no Pokémon were actually hurt severally like he had imagined they would in a Pokémon battle. Instead, Ash entertained him with skill and resourcefulness but more importantly, Ash had understood his opponents and his Pokémon clearly; as they say, 'know your opponent and yourself and you will win a hundred battles without failure'. Looks like they weren't kidding._

 _Was there more to life in the daylight then fighting and displaying ones strength to impressive others and feel the pleasure of power? Just what is with this trainer that makes Darkrai want to learn more about? A lot more._

"That was so awesome Ash!" Dawn just couldn't contain herself but cheer for that last Gym Battle Ash had fought in. Meanwhile, Brock was busy making a really delicious lunch in celebration for not only showing just how more skilled of a trainer Ash had showed everyone but also for settling the differences between the father and son gym leaders. Ash himself was feeling just dandy knowing that his Pokémon really showing skill and power especially after his nightmarish encounter with his Darkrai.

It was just too bad that they had to cancel their boat plans to the town where the next Pokémon Contest was going to take place. A local said it was because of the Wailord that were blocking all the harbor exits. The Wailord were huge Pokémon based on the blue whale. They all have small beady eyes, a huge mouth, and a throat that is lined with grooves. They also have a blue back with and four white spots, and a tan, grooved underbelly. Finally, they all had two pairs of fins along its sides and a horizontal tail at the back. As long as those Wailord stay put, it was impossible to take a boat out of Canalave City.

"Lunch is ready everyone, come and get it!" Brock said and his friends left the trip down memory lane for the lunch that Brock had been pushing all his talents into. But of course, there is the uninvited dinner guests and this one crashed the party for sure.

"Is that…?" Ash said since he saw this Pokémon in resemblance to another from long ago, during that Pokétch Scandal that Team Rocket pulled off for the sake of stealing all the Pokémon in Jubilife City.

"That is called a Luxio!" Brock yelled as Ash took out his Pokédex to scan this Pokémon that dared ruin their meal.

 **{Luxio, the Spark Pokémon. By touching friends with its front paws, Luxio is able to communicate through the sparks it emits.}**

Luxio is a feline, quadruped Pokémon resembling a young lynx or lion. Blue and black fur covers most of its body. Its ears, face, hind paws, and front half of its body are blue, while its hindquarters are black. Additionally, Luxio has a tufty black mane surrounding its face. The insides of its rounded ears are yellow, as are its eyes. There are two yellow rings around each front leg and a yellow, four-point star on the tip of its tail.

"Hey! That's our food!" Ash and Brock heard Dawn yell and they saw what was going on. Luxio had distracted them while a Whismur and a Nidoran to steal all the food behind their backs!

The Whismur was a mauve, bipedal Pokémon with a spherical body. It has two stubby arms and two round, yellow-tipped feet that lack toes. Its ear covers are long and rabbit-like with yellow tips, and the ear openings can be seen as a hole at the base of each ear cover. Its eyes appear as cross or plus sign-like black marks, and it has a simple, wide mouth usually shown open. It has a small, plug-like tail with a hole in it and a yellow crescent marking above it.

The Nidoran was a small, quadruped rodent-like Pokémon. It is pinkish purple with darker spots, and has large, spiny ears, oversized front teeth, and red eyes. Its back is covered with many large spines that can release potent poisons if threatened. There is a long, pointed horn on its forehead.

They both tried to make a run for it but Ash was no slowpoke and caught them while Brock retrieved the food. But it was temporary as Luxio tackled the two trainers, releasing the caught Pokémon who took the food back while Luxio covered them. When Ash and Brock got back up, they tried to chase after them but Luxio growled at them.

"Don't give me that!" Ash snapped at Luxio who only flinched before continuing to growl at him. "I have nothing to listen to food thieves like you, not get out of our way!" Apparently Luxio didn't appreciate Ash talking him down so it sent a Thunderbolt onto the raven haired trainer!

"ASH!" Brock and Dawn cried out but they were shocked to what happened next.

"Knock that off!" Ash had charged right through the **Thunderbolt** and tackled Luxio back into a submissive stance. But that didn't last long when Luxio used **Iron Tail** to launch Ash off once again and ran into the direction of the Whismur and Nidoran . "Come back with our food!"

"Ash wait!" Brock and Dawn sighed before finding themselves chasing after their friend. And they were doing this throughout the entire city until they all saw the wild Pokémon diving into a manhole. Of course, they weren't the only ones there; Team Rocket was as well and they were after Ash's Pikachu again!

And yet Ash ignored them and tried to keep his starter out of their grasp until he noticed that the stomping of their crane like robot had caused the manhole to open, giving Ash to chance to chase after those food thieves. It was just too bad that Team Rocket had accidently bent the manhole along with the cover, making it nigh impossible to move it now. Dawn ignored all that and commanded her Piplup to send Team Rocket flying by using **Whirlpool**. Still, they couldn't get the manhole loose, not even with the ridiculous strength of Brock's Happiny who a small Pokémon that is shaped like an egg. It has a soft, smooth, light pink body. On top of its head is a curly outgrowth that resembles a ponytail, with a dark pink band around the base. It has three round bumps on its forehead. There is a pouch around the lower half of its body, which resembles a diaper. The pouch is red with a white stripe around the top.

It took until Dawn decided to take the chance with her Mamoswine and it took until the Twin Tusk Pokémon noticed that Ash's scent was all over the bent manhole. He then slammed one of its heavy legs onto the ground, launching the manhole away from the cover entirely. Of course, Happiny had to catch them when the trainers and Piplup were also sent flying.

Meanwhile, Ash was in the sewer with his Buizel out, looking for the food stealing wild Pokémon. Buizel then caught the scent of an electric type, a normal type and a poison type all heading in the same direction. He led Ash to where the scents were setting and not moving, only for both of to see a,

"It's a Wailmer!" Ash proclaimed as he saw the source of all this trouble today. He took out his Pokédex to verify,

 **{Wailmer, the Ball Whale Pokémon. It spouts water out of its nose and becomes lethargic when its body becomes dry.}**

Wailmer is a spherical whale Pokémon with no tail. It has a dark blue topside and a tan underbelly with grooves. It has two fins that have finger-like appendages, baleen plates that resemble teeth, and a blowhole on the top of its head. Wailmer stores water inside its body, which it expels through its nostrils to startle people.

When storing water in its body, it can turn into a bouncing ball. The more water filling its body, the higher it can bounce. It becomes lethargic when it is dry. It eats tons of food a day. It lives in the sea, and can only live on land for a short amount of time. It occasionally bounces onto the beaches to play.

All this could explain why Wailmer looks like it is in pain but not even twitching. And for a water type that is stranded on the clement side of the sewer water path, it was no surprise at all. Thankfully, Ash knew better than to try and push Wailmer over and merely asked of Buizel to spray the Ball Whale Pokémon using **Water Gun**. It worked like a charm and Wailer was moist enough to get up and into the water on its own.

But the problems were only getting started. Wailmer somehow told Ash that he was also lost in the sewers after separating from the school of Wailord outside. That will explain why all the boats were stranded in the harbor. Ash said that unless he gets Wailmer out of the sewers, both problems will be solved.

That was why Ash asked for the Luxio and his company to show how to get out. That brings to Ash, Buizel and Wailmer following the sewer local Pokémon throughout the tunnels. That is until they came across a large opening in the tunnel, big enough for Pokémon to reside in and that is what Ash and the non-local Pokémon saw to their awe.

"Hordes of Zubat…" The Zubat were blue, bat-like Pokémon. While each one lacks eyes, they has pointed ears with purple insides and a mouth with four pointed teeth. There are two pointed teeth on both the upper and lower jaws for each Zubat, and Ash was always able to tell that the male will have larger pointed teeth than the female. They all have purple wing membranes support by two, elongated fingers, and two long, thin, tails.

"…and Mothim…" The Mothim were moth-like Pokémon with two pairs of wings, one larger than the other is. The wings are primarily tan with an orange, oval marking on each. The tips of the wings split into small, orange squares; there are three on the large pair and two on the small. Mothim have orange eyes with gray, orange-tipped antennae running along the edges before extending and widening above its head. Their body is black with a patch of orange on the underside and a gray stripe down its back. Four gray legs and a small black tail that splits into two squares are also present for each one.

Elsewhere in this residential area for the Pokémon, there were, "…Teddiursa as well…" The Teddiursa were bipedal, ursine Pokémon covered in short, orange-brown fur. Their muzzle is light tan with a small black nose and black eyes. There is a slightly paler tan crescent marking on their faces, and they also have round ears. They each have three claws on its forepaws, and two claws and yellow paw pads on their hind paws. Finally, their tails are short, round, and puffy.

On the other side of the sewer stream were "…Venonat…" The Venonat were Pokémon that Ash had seen ages ago in Kanto and Orange Islands and they each have a round body covered in purple fur. They have their own pincer-like mouth, red compound eyes and a pair of white antennas. It has a pair of clodhopper feet and stubby forepaws. "…Rattata…" Another Pokémon Ash had seen back home in Kanto, the Rattata were small, quadruped rodent Pokémon. Its most notable feature is its large teeth. It has long whiskers and a long, slightly curled tail. Rattata has purple fur on its back, and cream fur on its stomach. Ash saw that the Females have shorter whiskers and lighter fur color.

In addition and in the water with Buizel and Wailmer were Spheal, a Pokémon that Ash had first seen in Hoenn. The Spheal are chubby, spherical, seal-like Pokémon with a short, flat tail. Their plushy fur is light blue with several white spots of various sizes on its back. This covering of fluffy fur protects the Spheal from the cold. They have black, circular eyes, small tusks protruding from its upper jaw, and small, rounded ears. Their stubby flippers and its underside are both beige.

"So all these Pokémon were living down here?" Ash asked no one in particular, not caring if someone replied back. "I guess that is because no one has a good enough reason to come to this part of the sewers and it doesn't seem that anyone upstairs was bothered by any of these Pokémon before us today."

Then Ash saw something that warmed his heart a little and just made a dry chuckle. There was Luxio, with the much younger Pokémon including the Nidoran and Nidoran looking up to it like a big brother. A bit ironic considering what happened today,

"So you are a thief, a mugger, a jerk and it is all because you are primary a big brother?" Ash said and Luxio growled at the statement but somehow, its Intimidate ability didn't work, on either trainer or Pokémon. "You will need to set a better example before you make a Pokémon clan of thieves." Now everyone were protesting but Ash once again ignored them, "Come on Buizel, Wailmer. These homeless Pokémon will only come to help us when they fell like it."

Despite hesitating, Wailmer decided that it didn't want to stay with Pokémon who steal and mob yet treat this as their given right to steal from innocent bystanders. Wailmer just wanted to go home and with its horde. Of course, Wailmer couldn't tell Ash about how it fell over a small waterfall, the one that prevented it from backtracking out of the sewers.

Ash suggested that Buizel will use Surf to back up Wailmer so that it will be high and wet enough to bounce off and onto the stream atop the waterfall. But they were halted when that same trio of Pokémon arrived as soon as Wailmer had gotten somewhere. Ash had to guess that they were only going to try and clear their names as thieves when they saw just how determined Ash was to help a Pokémon. They were never considered to be trained by any trainer so they all had this poor impression on people like Ash or Pokémon raised by trainers like Pikachu.

"Just do what you want. We all got off to a bad start and I am going to bring this Wailmer back to its family whatever or not I will clear all this as well." Ash said and Wailmer was sad that Ash acted 'mean' to the Pokémon that 'wanted to help' but was still relieved and overjoyed to hear that a trainer is going to help. And those homeless Pokémon just shrugged all that off and came with Ash anyways. That is until they came across a much large water fall than the first one!

"You are kidding right?" Ash said in deadpan that matched the looks of all the Pokémon present, with the exemption of Wailmer who was nervous about all this. After all, it did give into its curiosity and now it looks like it will never get out. "I never thought that I will have to do this guys. Don't take it too personally but none of us can help Wailmer in this problem." Ash said as he snaked his hand into his shirt and took out the hidden Pokéball, one that Pikachu and Buizel recognize enough to back away, confusing the other wild Pokémon.

"Darkrai, come on out." Ash said in a monotone, contrasting his usual excitement when he sent out a Pokémon outside its Pokéball. And the Pitch Black Pokémon found himself out in the open again and with Pokémon still backing away from him. Despite this always being this way for Darkrai as long as he can remember, he still felt a little heartbroken. "Darkrai." The dark type legendary Pokémon turned to his trainer, the only person that never looked at him with fear ever since that night in Canalave City. "We need your help."

Ash then turned to Wailmer who somehow looked confused and only a little scared ever since Darkrai emerged from its special and reserved Pokéball. Darkrai saw this was confused that Wailmer was not afraid of him. "Please Darkrai, use your **Psychic** to take this lost one back home."

Darkrai said and did nothing but stare into the eyes of Wailmer who heard that he had the power to solve this problem. It was the look and sparkles in Wailmer's eyes that amazed Darkrai. He never saw such a wonderful light, he only saw the dark skies at night with no stars to light the way; Darkrai never even seen stars before and he just couldn't get enough,

"Darkrai." The Pitch-Black Pokémon managed to finally hear something after his wonderment with Wailmer's sparking eyes had drown out all sound. Darkrai then concentrated its Psychic type energy which caused his eyes to glow a bright blue and soon, Wailmer did as well. Then Darkrai soared with Wailmer being levitated after him until they both reached the top of the second waterfall.

When Ash and the Pokémon present managed to get up there via the metal ladder attached to the side of the waterfall they were on, they saw that Darkrai was not sad or frustrated like usual with its cold and non-caring attitude but instead, Wailmer was making Darkrai chuckle and this one of amusement rather than cruelty. Ash smiled at the sight while the Pokémon around him did the same.

And on the side, Ash and his friends had been searching for him and they happened to arrive at the top out of an exit nearby. After being briefed on what is happening, Ash's friends agreed that they were see to that Wailmer gets out of the sewers and to the school of Wailord. And then it was in sight, the light at the end of the tunnel like they say. But it wasn't that easy when Wailmer suddenly remembered what really prevented it from ever getting out of the sewers.

It was a, "Swampert!" Ash and Brock yelled out in realization of the nasty looking Pokémon that emerged at the exit to the tunnel. They were aware of Swampert from their adventures in Hoenn. "That is the final evolution state of Mudkip, the water starter type of Hoenn Dawn!" Ash told the local girl who looked at Swampert,

Swampert is a bipedal Pokémon. It has a large cobalt blue body and large three-fingered hands. It has two orange gills that protrude from round patches on its cheeks. Its head has two large semicircular black fins that extend from the top of its orange eyes to the back of its head. Its tail fin is big, broad, and black. It has a white underside and orange ridged portions above its hands and three-toed feet.

 **{Swampert, the Mud Fish Pokémon. Swampert is a powerful Pokémon that can track even a large ship as well as inflict critical damage to its enemies with one blow.}** That is exactly what Dawn's Pokédex said about this Pokémon.

But it also said that Swampert are very strong with enough power to easily drag a boulder weighing more than a ton, batter down opponents, and swim faster than a jet ski. They have powerful vision, enabling it to see even in murky water. Swampert also has the ability to predict storms, sensing subtle differences in the sounds of waves and tidal winds with its fins. When a storm is approaching, Swampert will pile up boulders to protect their nests that they make on beautiful beaches.

And this Swampert had sent out **Mud Shots** in their direction when Wailmer tried to pass the Mud Fish Pokémon. That proved that Swampert had saw Wailmer in its territory and took it for an intruder so the former frightened Wailmer deeper into the sewers where it couldn't get out on its own. "Pikachu, we need to get him off our trail." Ash said and Pikachu nodded. "Use our new **Shock Bolt** like we practiced!"

Pikachu nodded while everyone else was wondering just what this strange and foreign sounding move was when Pikachu landed on the ground and sent a **Thunderbolt** that landed squarely on Swampert who made no move to avoid it. "Ash, Electric-type moves don't work on a Pokémon like Swampert!" Dawn yelled but Ash still had his smirk on,

"Right, no electric type move can do damage but Pikachu and I are not planning on any damage right now." Ash said in an encrypted tone. "Finish the move Pikachu and send Swampert up to the ceiling!" Everyone was shocked to see that Swampert was unable to move while Pikachu's **Shock Bolt** had kept it still as it was somehow lifted off the ground and sent flying straight up until it was almost glued to the ceiling of the tunnel. "Now it is time for some attacks, Grotle you're up." Ash said calmly as he could be and sent out his Grove Pokémon into the tunnel, "Use **Energy Ball**!"

The bushes on Grotle's back glow light green or white and he forms a green ball of energy in front of his mouth. Grotle then fired the ball at the disabled Swampert on the ceiling of the tunnel. Being both Water and Ground type, this move dealt a huge amount of damage when Electric type moves can cause any damage.

All that damage had sent the Swampert into blissful unconsciousness, giving everyone else the chance to finally get out of the tunnel and into the sunlight. Unforutnately, Ash didn't think that Wailmer will be so overjoyed that it evolved into a Wailord itself! Now it can't get fit under the drawbridge that they all ever planning to do until this happened.

Still, they could lift up the drawbridge by the control room. But when they arrived there, it was left unchecked after a power surge had disabled the controls. All they needed was enough electrical power but even with Pikachu, that wasn't enough. But thankfully, all the wild Pokémon from the sewers had come on the word on Luxio and his company who had supposedly left Ash and the gang. It turned out that Luxio had somehow taught almost every single one of them the move **Shock Wave** which allowed every one of them to line up and power the control room. It was a wonderful miracle in hiding that finally revealed itself.

Now Wailord was able to leave the harbor and reunite with the school. But not before showing its gratitude for all Ash and everyone else had down. Meanwhile, Darkrai had been watching every single minute of this adventure and was feeling a little warm to see the happy newly-evolved Wailord be with its family. He must have learned something more about happiness and that it is never built alone.

XXXXX

"Here we are, Iron Island and where Barry was having his problems." Ash said as soon as he and the gang got off the boat that goes to and fro between Iron Island and Canalave City regularly. "And I mean problems with Steel type Pokémon here on this island like his Empoleon." Ash added and his friend all nodded.

They all heard from Barry and pretty soon the news all over Sinnoh reported the incident that on Iron Island, all Pokémon that are either pure or half steel type had been suddenly disobedient and have been going on pretty nasty destructive tendencies to both their trainers and any other Pokémon present on the island. That made Iron Island a very dangerous place.

But their welcome could have been more bittersweet when they were intercepted by a rogue Steel type themselves. "A…"

"Aggron!" Brock started and Ash ended. They have seen an Aggron before, also in Hoenn.

Aggron is a huge, bipedal Pokémon. It is primarily black with plates of silver-colored armor. The armor on its head has two pairs of holes with horns protruding from the foremost holes. Its forehead plating extends past its upper jaw in a small point. It has sky-blue eyes, and two nostril-like holes on the tip of its upper jaw. On the rim of its mouth are several pointed, fang-like protrusions and the nape of its neck and back have gray-silver armor sections. It has wide, blunt spikes on its shoulders, and gray-silver bands on its arms and legs. Its hands and feet each have three claws. It has a thick, long, black tail that it can swing at enemies.

The gouges in Aggron's armor from previous battles are worn as mementos. The more wounds it has, the more it has battled. It claims a large mountain as its territory and fiercely defends it from trespassers. If its environment is damaged by a flood or a forest fire, it will restore the area by bringing in topsoil and planting trees. It burrows through the strongest of bedrock and digs tunnels, as it searches for iron to eat. Its horns, which it uses to dig through bedrock when seeking food, grow a little longer at a time and can be used to determine its age.

Dawn ran behind the guys while scanning it with her Pokédex while she still could. **{Aggron, the Iron Armor Pokémon. While seeking iron for food, it digs tunnels by breaking through bedrock with its steel horns.}** Ash subconsciously held out one of his arms for Dawn to hide behind more while his other arm allowed his hand to reach for two Pokéballs.

"Get ready Brock. This could be nasty." Ash said and Brock nodded while reaching for one of his own Pokéballs. But before any of the trainers could remove them from their belts, something had caught the attention of all instead.

"Fear not travels who have arrived at Iron Island. We will take care of this." He was a man that seemed to around Brock's age but had features more closely compared to Ash. White skin, spikey black hair and even the voices could similar to Ash's. "Now my friend, use **Close Combat**." This stranger turned his attention to the Pokémon near him, one that every single trainer recognized as,

"Lucario!" Dawn proclaimed and this time didn't use her Pokédex since she had seen this Pokémon in another place and time.

Lucario is a bipedal, canine-like Pokémon, with fur that is predominantly blue and black. It possesses a short, round spike on the back of each forepaw, in addition to a third on its chest. It has a long snout and ears. When its mouth is open, it has two pairs of pointed teeth, one in the upper jaw and one in the lower. It possesses cream-colored fur on its torso, and blue fur on its thighs that resembles shorts. It has a medium length tail of the same blue color as well. It stands on its toes rather than on its entire foot. It has developed four small black appendages on its head.

And this Lucario moved right in front of Aggron and landed some many hits in such speed that it looked like Lucario had only struck the Iron Armor Pokémon once. But nevertheless, Aggron stood no chance since the duel Rock and Steel type is among the weakest Pokémon to fighting type moves like **Close Combat**.

Then the trainer of Lucario landed from on top the cliff he made his introduction on and right in front of Ash's gang. "I hope we didn't arrive too late."

"No, no you were right on time." Dawn said and Brock nodded before they started to introduce themselves.

"I am just glad that another incident didn't happen. My name is Riley and you can pretty much guess that also train here on Iron Island." The trainer introduced himself and the gang saw that he was wearing very strange blue clothing that gave Riley the aura of a refined and reclusive warrior. "But wasn't there another trainer with you?" That caused Brock and Dawn to finally notice that Ash wasn't with them as of yet.

"Here Lucario." They heard Ash's voice coming from the location of the fallen wild Aggron and Lucario, on the ground exhausted from using such a powerful and negatively affecting move. Ash was there, handing Lucario something that of a large leaf that was completely white. When Lucario took it, the Aura Pokémon suddenly gotten his strength back and was able to get back on two legs.

"Hey Ash! What was that you gave to Lucario?" Dawn asked as soon as she finished running up to reach him. But Ash just ignored her and approached Riley who had been walking after Dawn along with Brock.

"Riley, why isn't your Lucario affected like Barry's Empoleon? Or any of the other Steel type Pokémon on this island?" Ash asked and before his friends could scold him for being ungrateful, Riley chuckled.

"I am not surprised you want to know. Lucario." Riley simply said and his Aura Pokémon started to glow a bright blue that seemed to cover his entire body. "That is why Lucario are called the Aura Pokémon. They can tap into this special energy that is dormant in all living organism but mostly they never know it's there or even be able to tap into it when they learn. To Lucario, it is a way for him to avoid being taken over what is responsible for this madness." Ash nodded, accepting the answer but,

"Then you will know when the madness started since you have been training on this island?" Ash asked and Riley nodded. "So take us to where we can find our friend who trains a Pokémon that is based off Dawn's Piplup and then take us to where the madness is coming from."

When they finally found Barry, he was trying to stop his rampaging Empoleon with the help of his other Pokémon. But they seemed to be losing their edge when, "Barry!" The said trainer turned to see familiar faces, "Hurry and slow down Empoleon! You need to return it to your Pokéball!" Ash shouted and Barry realized what he was doing, the hard way. And then nodded and faced his Pokémon.

"Staraptor, use **Close Combat**!" Staraptor is a grayish-brown, avian Pokémon similar to a large bird of prey. It has small, red eyes and a thin, yellow beak with a black tip. There is a circular white patch on its forehead, which is smaller on the female. Larger white markings cover the front of its throat and chest, separated by a black ruff encircling the shoulders. A red-tipped, black crest extends over its head, nearly reaching the tip of its beak. Staraptor is fussy about the shape of this comb, which it uses to appear larger and frighten enemies. It has large wings, five black-tipped tail feathers, and yellow feet with black talons. Its powerful wing and leg muscles allow it fly effortlessly while carrying a small Pokémon. Upon evolution, this Pokémon leaves its flock to live alone. It can be highly aggressive, persistently attacking even larger foes in spite of illness or injury.

"Roserade, use **Toxic**!" Roserade is a bipedal Pokémon with an appearance that incorporates features of roses and masquerade attire. It has hair made of white rose petals, and a leafy, green cape with a yellow, collar-like bangle on its neck. The cape pattern reaches toward the back of its head, in spiky, sepal-like extensions on the hair. A female will have a longer cape than a male. It has a dark-green mask over its red, yellow-lidded eyes. The lower portion of its face is light green, and it holds a bouquet in each hand. It has a red in its right hand and blue in its left. Its limbs and underside are light green. Its feet end with yellow tips.

Roserade lures prey with a sweet aroma. The more toxic its poison, the sweeter its aroma becomes. Each hand has different toxins, but both hands can jab with near-deadly power. It attacks with a dancer-like elegance, and uses hidden whips lined with poisonous thorns.

"And Heracross, use **Bulk Up** and catch Empoleon with **Arm Thrust**!" Heracross is a bipedal, beetle-like Pokémon covered in a blue exoskeleton. There is a long, pronged horn on its forehead. The horn ends in a cross on the male and a heart-shape in the female. On either side of the horn is a short antenna with a spherical tip. Heracross has oval, yellow eyes. Its forearms have a pair of spikes, while its thighs have a single spike each. It has two claws on its hands, and a single long claw on each foot. Heracross's claws allow it to dig into the ground for sturdy footing or climb trees. Using its horn, it throws opponents or competitors for food. It lives in forests, where it feeds on tree sap.

All these commands had caused Empoleon to lose a lot of health since it was a Steel type and being a Water type didn't help with the weakness to Fighting type moves like **Close Combat** and **Arm Thrust**. And with **Toxic** eating away the heath by the minute, it didn't make things easier for Barry's Empoleon. Eventually, Empoleon was unable to even move under the stronger grip Heracross has on it so Barry was able to return it with the help of his Pokéball.

After all that, Barry explained that he had seen more and more Steel type Pokémon are running amok by the hour and they get even more dangerous by the hour as well. Pokémon like Metang, Steelix, Lairon, Forretress, and Scizor but also wild and local Pokémon like Aron, Magnemite and Skarmory are going on these mad attacks. What is more is that trainers and their other Pokémon aren't the only victims, Iron Island had non-Steel type Pokémon local that are also falling victim to this madness. Pokémon like Graveler, Onix, and Geodude are trying to escape the attacks as well while trainers returned their non-Steel type Pokémon and flee the island.

But the big ice breaker was that Barry said after Empoleon ran off when it first started to rebel, he and Heracross had uncovered some kind of machine. He also ran into Team Rocket and blamed them for everything that happened but they denied that they were involved. Ash said that he agreed with them, Team Rocket that always chased him will never resort to something on a scale of putting trainers and Pokémon in danger and they have no profit from it. All this just doesn't fit with that trio at all.

When Barry showed the gang the machine, it was indeed nothing that Team Rocket can ever make because, "That's not the symbol for Team Rocket! It is for Team Galactic!" Dawn pointed out and Ash and Brock both nodded.

"That proves you three are not part of this." Ash said, facing a boulder that happened to be where Team Rocket was trying to hide from Barry and any further accusations.

"Thanks a lot twerp but how is that going to help deal with this big mess?" Jessie asked.

"Yeah, the Pokémon around here say that they boiling up with something and seeing all of us just sends their blood running. And they have no idea why!" The Meowth of Team Rocket, who surprised Barry and Riley with his ability to talk in their language, with a slight accent of course, shouted along.

"So this machines were causing all the Steel type Pokémon on this island to go on an uncontrollable rage. No doubt it is something that Team Galactic will do but why would they, in their boasting of changing the world, waste their time on an island?" Ash brought up before turning to Riley, an action that everyone else had found themselves doing as well. "You have been here longer than anyone else. Is there anything on this island that criminals like Team Galactic will be interested in?"

Riley smiled and nodded. He told them that he always knew about a cavern on Iron Island that contained something very valuable and yet so important that it can't be removed from the island. Riley then led everyone to the caverns and they found grunts with the uniforms of Team Galactic undergoing something in the entrance to a cavern indeed!

This set something off with Barry and Team Rocket as they ignored Ash calling out to them and charged for the grunts with Pokéballs in hand. Dawn and Brock hurried to try and catch up with them while Ash and Riley stayed behind. "Hopefully Dawn and Brock will help those idiots buy us some time to find where all this madness is coming from." Ash muttered and Riley just nodded.

While the trainers were fighting the Grunts, something that they were surprisingly struggling with, Ash and Riley had snuck into the cavern. That was where they ran into the worst person on the Island, Commander Mars of Team Galactic! Riley told Ash that he will take care of Mars so that the boy can try to stop all this but it was too late.

Team Galactic had used an artifact from another place in Sinnoh altogether called the Spear Key to meld it with some ruins within the caverns of Iron Island. This event had sent a surge of energy throughout Iron Island and even to various places in Sinnoh where meteorites were being held. But that wasn't the worst part; it was when this strange energy had landed on Riley's Lucario as the two were fighting Commander Mars. Now Lucario is under the same influence from the start of the day but a hundred times stronger, so much that even with all the Aura Lucario can muster, he eventually fell victim to the rage inducing effects!

Riley was about to be attacked by his Lucario when, " **Shock Bolt** now!" That unfamiliar move to Riley had hit Lucario and like back in Canalave City, it caused Lucario to be frozen in place. And yet that only slowed Lucario down until the Aura Pokémon released its self from that attack from Ash and his Pikachu, only to charge against Team Plasma. Yet that seemingly was for naught when Mars used her Normal type Tiger Cat Pokémon, Purugly, to defeat Lucario!

But it wasn't for nothing when Mars was shocked to see that all the Team Galactic machinery had shut down during her battle with Riley's Lucario. And with all the machines down, Lucario was able to regain control from the effects. Mars knew that Ash had foiled their plans in search for what is known as the Spear Pillar. She issued a retreat to her grunts while leaving her enemies to deal with bombs she scattered throughout the Iron Island; if they all go off, the entire island will wiped off the map!

Even though she tried to get even with Ash before retreating and losing, Mars still managed to escape via the same helicopter that she used to get to Iron Island in the first place. All that is left is an island filled with trainers and Pokémon who are stranded on a doomed island. And the worst part is that no matter how they searched, they couldn't find the bombs!

And so everyone braced for the impending explosion and yet the island remained intact and the only explosions were in the ocean harmlessly. That made no sense until Ash turned away from the noise and faced his shadow before taking out his necklace to reveal the Pokéball on it, empty.

"Darkrai…" Ash said and everyone present saw who arose from Ash's very own shadow. The Pitch Black Pokémon and prince of nightmares himself. "Thank you." Ash simply said, ignoring the shocked and frighten faces of the trainers and Pokémon. Darkrai also ignored the expressions on all but his trainer's face and simply nodded before returning himself to where he can be safe, within Ash's very special Pokéball.

After everything that had happened, it was time to finally leave Iron Island. But a lot of things had be done before that could happen. One, Professor Carolina who is the grandmother of Cynthia the Sinnoh Regional Champion, had to hear all this from everyone who was present during Team Galactic's operation on the island. Two, Team Rocket had been spared this time since they had nothing to do with all the madness but they will on the run if they try anything criminal; it is true what they say, 'old habits die hard'. Three, All the injured and trainers had to be taken into care of two Nurse Joys who have arrived along with Professor Carolina and her own crew. Finally, the existence of Ash's Darkrai had to be kept a secret or otherwise there will be unwanted attention regardless if the Legendary Pokémon is with them or not; and fortunately for the Pitch Black Pokémon, all the trainers weren't idiots and thus were never going to try their luck.

All in all, Darkrai proved that he was out of the Pokéball the whole time and learned something once again. He saw that all the trainers, despite their own Pokémon going temporary rogue on them, never gave up on the problem or their poor Pokémon and tried to stop the madness. Darkrai learned what is known as loyalty to ones Pokémon and friends can led to great things to happen and nothing to be ashamed of. So Darkrai decided that if Ash was going to be that loyal to him, it won't hurt for Darkrai to be the same in return. And that will define how the future adventures will turn out to be, for sure.

End of Chapter 4.

 ***Hey everyone, thanks for the support! I have been lazing off since I have to think about all the stuff I need to finish and turn in before my NOVA Semester comes to an end. I hope this and the next chapter I will be working on this week will still be good.***


	5. The Importance of Rivals

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

Master of Bad Dreams

The Importance of Rivals

 _Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,_

" _So this machines were causing all the Steel type Pokémon on this island to go on an uncontrollable rage. No doubt it is something that Team Galactic will do but why would they, in their boasting of changing the world, waste their time on an island?" Ash brought up before turning to Riley, an action that everyone else had found themselves doing as well. "You have been here longer than anyone else. Is there anything on this island that criminals like Team Galactic will be interested in?"_

 _Riley smiled and nodded. He told them that he always knew about a cavern on Iron Island that contained something very valuable and yet so important that it can't be removed from the island. Riley then led everyone to the caverns and they found grunts with the uniforms of Team Galactic undergoing something in the entrance to a cavern indeed!_

 _This set something off with Barry and Team Rocket as they ignored Ash calling out to them and charged for the grunts with Pokéballs in hand. Dawn and Brock hurried to try and catch up with them while Ash and Riley stayed behind. "Hopefully Dawn and Brock will help those idiots buy us some time to find where all this madness is coming from." Ash muttered and Riley just nodded._

 _While the trainers were fighting the Grunts, something that they were surprisingly struggling with, Ash and Riley had snuck into the cavern. That was where they ran into the worst person on the Island, Commander Mars of Team Galactic! Riley told Ash that he will take care of Mars so that the boy can try to stop all this but it was too late._

 _Team Galactic had used an artifact from another place in Sinnoh altogether called the Spear Key to meld it with some ruins within the caverns of Iron Island. This event had sent a surge of energy throughout Iron Island and even to various places in Sinnoh where meteorites were being held. But that wasn't the worst part; it was when this strange energy had landed on Riley's Lucario as the two were fighting Commander Mars. Now Lucario is under the same influence from the start of the day but a hundred times stronger, so much that even with all the Aura Lucario can muster, he eventually fell victim to the rage inducing effects!_

 _Riley was about to be attacked by his Lucario when, "_ _ **Shock Bolt**_ _now!" That unfamiliar move to Riley had hit Lucario and like back in Canalave City, it caused Lucario to be frozen in place. And yet that only slowed Lucario down until the Aura Pokémon released its self from that attack from Ash and his Pikachu, only to charge against Team Plasma. Yet that seemingly was for naught when Mars used her Normal type Tiger Cat Pokémon, Purugly, to defeat Lucario!_

 _But it wasn't for nothing when Mars was shocked to see that all the Team Galactic machinery had shut down during her battle with Riley's Lucario. And with all the machines down, Lucario was able to regain control from the effects. Mars knew that Ash had foiled their plans in search for what is known as the Spear Pillar. She issued a retreat to her grunts while leaving her enemies to deal with bombs she scattered throughout the Iron Island; if they all go off, the entire island will wiped off the map!_

 _Even though she tried to get even with Ash before retreating and losing, Mars still managed to escape via the same helicopter that she used to get to Iron Island in the first place. All that is left is an island filled with trainers and Pokémon who are stranded on a doomed island. And the worst part is that no matter how they searched, they couldn't find the bombs!_

 _And so everyone braced for the impending explosion and yet the island remained intact and the only explosions were in the ocean harmlessly. That made no sense until Ash turned away from the noise and faced his shadow before taking out his necklace to reveal the Pokéball on it, empty._

 _"Darkrai…" Ash said and everyone present saw who arose from Ash's very own shadow. The Pitch Black Pokémon and prince of nightmares himself. "Thank you." Ash simply said, ignoring the shocked and frighten faces of the trainers and Pokémon. Darkrai also ignored the expressions on all but his trainer's face and simply nodded before returning himself to where he can be safe, within Ash's very special Pokéball._

 _After everything that had happened, it was time to finally leave Iron Island. But a lot of things had be done before that could happen. One, Professor Carolina who is the grandmother of Cynthia the Sinnoh Regional Champion, had to hear all this from everyone who was present during Team Galactic's operation on the island. Two, Team Rocket had been spared this time since they had nothing to do with all the madness but they will on the run if they try anything criminal; it is true what they say, 'old habits die hard'. Three, All the injured and trainers had to be taken into care of two Nurse Joys who have arrived along with Professor Carolina and her own crew. Finally, the existence of Ash's Darkrai had to be kept a secret or otherwise there will be unwanted attention regardless if the Legendary Pokémon is with them or not; and fortunately for the Pitch Black Pokémon, all the trainers weren't idiots and thus were never going to try their luck._

 _All in all, Darkrai proved that he was out of the Pokéball the whole time and learned something once again. He saw that all the trainers, despite their own Pokémon going temporary rogue on them, never gave up on the problem or their poor Pokémon and tried to stop the madness. Darkrai learned what is known as loyalty to ones Pokémon and friends can led to great things to happen and nothing to be ashamed of. So Darkrai decided that if Ash was going to be that loyal to him, it won't hurt for Darkrai to be the same in return. And that will define how the future adventures will turn out to be, for sure._

"No!" Pikachu heard as the small yellow Pokémon that is based off the fusion of a mouse and thunderbolt heard that caused him to toss and turn. And yet it was not a voice of a human calling out during an emergency, it sounded a lot more like a voice from within Pikachu's head.

 _Flashback Begins!_

 _It was a few hours ago, when the two of them were simply on a ship heading out of Canalave City and heading to Chocovine Town where Dawn's next Contest is scheduled to happen. But while Pikachu and the others were relaxing, Ash was not. He just couldn't shrug off this feeling that this is something very fishy about this since he had gotten this instinct he developed from the countless encounters with Team Rocket; it is about time for their new record attempt at his Pikachu._

 _Although everyone told him to relax and that they have seen the last of Team Rocket, Ash knew those were famous last words and so enough, Team Rocket appeared once again. This time, as the crew of the ship that wasn't heading to any Town at all; they were just faking it so that they can try at Ash with no place for the trainer to run and lose them._

 _That was an ingenious plan and Ash found no place to go in order to get away from Team Rocket. But luck came bittersweet when a storm suddenly appeared while Ash was battling with Team Rocket over Pikachu. The storm rocked the ship and soon, Pikachu fell off the side! And when Dawn's Piplup appeared to try and save Pikachu, they both were swept from the ship!_

 _Dawn saw this but when she tried to get them both, Ash had stopped her. "Stop! You will be swept away too! And I am not losing anyone else to this storm!" That was what both Pikachu and Piplup before they rocky waters had caused them to drift into unconscious while the current kept their bodies above the water while carrying them out of sight to both trainers; Dawn cried out for her Pokémon while hugging Ash for support._

 _Flashback Ends!_

The nightmare finally ended when Pikachu finally awoke and sat up from that nightmare. He then looked around and saw what he had hoped it was only part of his dream. He wasn't on the cruise ship at all, he wasn't even where he been before. It was the beach of an island that Pikachu had never been to before, not without Ash around.

[You're awake!] (1) Pikachu turned to see Dawn's Piplup staring at him. [I just got up myself so I guess my screaming woke you up as well. Sorry.] Piplup said while using his flippers to rub the back of his furless and hairless head.

Pikachu smiled, [Thanks anyways. I wasn't sleeping very well.]

[About how I endangered the both us when I tried to save you?] Piplup said with a nervous tone and Pikachu started to stare so strong, it was his eyes were acting like a drill through his head.

[Sure. Just how were you going to get the both of us back onto the ship when you did save me from the current? A Prinplup could have done that better.] Pikachu said before he hastily covered his mouth after that last sentence. It was totally uncalled for, [Not that you weren't any better than one…] Pikachu stopped when he noticed that Piplup had an expression that wasn't what Pikachu had feared.

Piplup looked forlorn, like it purposely missed out on something and now is regretting it. [Pikachu, will I be a bully if I do evolve into a Prinplup?] Pikachu never thought about that, he was under the impression that Piplup just wants to stay the way he is because Piplup just hates to evolve. Did Kenny's Prinplup really make such a negative example on this Piplup?

[If I have the answer Piplup, then I can safely say why I haven't evolved into a Raichu by now.] Pikachu said and Piplup nodded, taking this statement as the answer for now. Meanwhile, they will better burn sunlight trying to fight some place to at least see the cruise ship. Too bad they hadn't had much luck in hours. They were about to give up until something caught their attention; a stream that didn't seem to move from the island but instead went in reverse.

They then discovered a school of Mantyke going up stream which gave off the illusion of a river moving towards the island. Mantyke resembles a manta ray. It has a round body with wide, flat fins. Its back is dark blue, while its underside is light blue. There are two red spots with white outlines and a light blue, curved line on its back. These markings give the overall impression of a smiling face and vary slightly in each region. It has two long, curving antennae on top of its head and black eyes with eyelash-like markings underneath. The antennae are used to sense ocean currents. Mantyke is a friendly Pokémon that can be found swimming near the ocean's surface with schools of Remoraid.

And all these Mantyke seemed to be carrying something to the end of the stream where a Corphish was gathering all of them and constructing something else entirely from the looks of things.

The Corphish is a red-shelled, crustacean Pokémon with a short tail similar to a lobster. Its eyes are saucer-like with small pupils, and it has three spikes on top of its head. It possesses four pairs of limbs in total: two large pincers used for gripping prey, and three pairs of legs used for walking. The upper segments of its legs, underside of its body and lower halves of its pincers are cream-colored. A hardy creature, Corphish is able to live in polluted water and eat nearly anything. There were also Nosepass, Probopass, Magnemite and Wingull they encountered on this island present.

It all looks like some kind of rocks and stones from the bottom of the seashore but it was what the Corphish was using them for that really got the attention of both Pikachu and Piplup.

It was like a gemstone but it was glowing an eerie green and gave off light in the similar way to that of a heartbeat. It was like this stone was alive somehow. When Pikachu and Piplup were finally noticed by the Corphish, he invited them over as visitors.

Corphish had explained that they were living on this unnamed island in the middle of what was known as the 'Diablo's Ocean'; where strange rocks jut out of the sea. But this stone was something that came to their home in a storm. It somehow told them that it needed a place to rest so they had been constructing a pile of rocks around it, to cover up the stone if it rains again.

Pikachu and Piplup decided that since they had nothing left to lose on this island, they will pitch in and help Corphish with the rocks that the Mantyke bring in. That is until some of the Mantyke had broken through the line, to them the trio that there are two more Pokémon coming. But it didn't take long for a Staravia and a Buizel appeared as soon as the word got to the ears of the two Water types and Electric type.

But the reunion was cut short when the stone had been completely covered in the rocks from the 'Diablo Ocean'. And out came something that only Pikachu had seen before. Piplup must have noticed that or only by instinct when he said [Pikachu, what is that?!]

[Deoxys.] Pikachu said plainly, and that was because the mere name can say it all for this being. Deoxys is an alien-like bipedal Pokémon that has four formes, each focused on a different stat. The main components that are constant for all four formes are a dominant reddish orange color, a bluish-green face, and three bluish-green dots on its back arranged in a triangle. Typically, there is a purple stripe running down the center of its face and a purple, crystalline organ in its chest. Its white, circular eyes are set inside rectangular, black eye sockets. It is shown that Deoxys may have a green crystalline organ and facial stripe.

Deoxys has tapering legs with a segmented, vertical, blue stripe on the upper portion. The abdomen is black with vertical lines, while the majority of its skin is reddish-orange. The arms are capable of taking different forms, usually a pair of tentacles coiled in a double helix. One tentacle is the primarily skin color, while the other is light blue. Alternately, it can form more humanoid arms with a red top and blue underside and a five-fingered hand. This forme has a blunt protrusion with a single blue stripe on either side of its head and stubby tail.

From what Pikachu understood about Deoxys ages ago, Deoxys was formed by the mutation of a virus from space. The Pokémon is highly intelligent; its brain appears to be the crystal in its chest. This organ is capable of firing laser beams. Additionally, Deoxys can use psychokinetic powers, which are useful for its signature move **Psycho Boost**. It is able to regenerate any part of its body that it may have lost during a battle. It has also demonstrated the ability to create an aurora without changing its forme. These auroras can have different electromagnetic wavelengths and are used to communicate with other Deoxys. It is also shown that the various electromagnetic waves given off by people, Pokémon, and all electronics can obscure its vision if there is enough interference with its communication. This Pokémon came from outer space from inside of a meteor.

Back in Hoenn, Deoxys has been observed to create clones of itself. These clones have lifeless eyes and duller color, lack of the trademark crystal on the chest, and seem to be unable to change from its default appearance. Furthermore, they seem unable to morph their tentacles into hands. When these clones are defeated, they dissolve into dust-like particles.

"Deoxys!" The Pokémon turned to see a Sub that was modeled after a Magikarp but Team Rocket was outside and in shock at the sight. They were also in Hoenn around the time the most high tech city was under attack by a Deoxys who caused all the machinery to go mad.

"DEOXYS!" This time, everyone including Team Rocket much to their chagrin, saw that there was a motor boat heading their way that carried the gang with Officer Jenny at the wheel. Ash and Brock were leaning forward when they shouted out the Pokémon's name. "Look out!" But that was something else that had broken the silence when Deoxys turned to see that Team Rocket had gotten their sights set on it.

Jessie used her a Pokémon called a Yanmega to use the move **Silver Wind** to deal some damage as a Bug type move on the Psychic type Deoxys. Yanmega is a large, dark green dragonfly Pokémon. Its large eyes are red with black lines that make a sideways "T" shape in each one. It has two large, white fangs or mandibles next to its small mouth. Its immense jaw power allows it to bite apart foes while flying by at high speed. Each of Yanmega's segments have a red spot on them, while the last tail segment has a black triangular plate. It has two similar plates on the back of its thorax and a third on its head. It has four white, oval wings with red tips, and there are two smaller white wings on the end of its tail. Yanmega can create shock waves by beating its wings. These shock waves are so powerful, they may inflict critical injuries on the foe. Yanmega also has six thin, black legs.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket had pulled out something very nasty up their sleeves. Their net had somehow be infused with the energy used by dark type Pokémon and since Psychic types are both weak and useless against that type of energy, it was almost done in for this Deoxys. But before Team Rocket could feel that they have finally succeeded in a Pokémon capture, "Do it now!"

Ash's voice shouted out again and this time, at the waterfall where Deoxys first appeared. Everyone saw that there were three dark spheres that rocketed from the cliff side and landed completely on Team Rocket. Once that happened, all of them fell into deep slumbers. Thus that allowed the move to be labeled as **Dark Void** , and there is only one Pokémon in existence that can learn and use such a move.

"Now send Team Rocket off this island Darkrai!" Ash said, confirming the suspicions of most. Darkrai had been sent by Ash during the storm since the Legendary Pokémon can fly after them better than most in a storm. And he has been watching over Pikachu and Piplup while alerting their locations to Staravia and Buizel; that was how the former two had been found by the latter two. Currently, Darkrai used his **Psychic** attack to lift the sub from the ocean and was about to send it packing when something else happened instead.

Everyone present and fully awake had suddenly heard the sound of the ropes of a net severing. They turned to see the **Silver Wind** attack from Jessie's Yanmega still in the air but were controlled by the Psychic move used by another, the captured Deoxys! He must have used its power outside the net to capture the power of a Bug type move since it somehow figured that it will get him out; amazing considering that it is true that Psychic type Pokémon are weak to Bug type moves but also Dark types are weak to the same type of moves as well.

Given these facts, Deoxys was finally able to get free from the net laced with Dark type energy. Then Deoxys creates a glowing multi-colored ball of energy within its tentacles and throws it at the submarine of Team Rocket. The resulting explosion had finally sent Team Rocket blasting off.

But the day wasn't over when the two Legendary Pokémon had suddenly turned to face each other. The look in their eyes had something that Ash had knew too well. "What is wrong with them?" Dawn asked with a nervous tone as she found herself hiding behind Ash.

"Looks like they are going to fight." Ash said with a smirk that frighten everyone. One Legendary Pokémon's power is hard to match as it is but take two Legendary Pokémon using all that against one and other is unimaginable. "Come on, let's get some real seats." Ash said to everyone and they took it the way Ash intended to mean; observe at a safe distance.

And after they were able to lead the wild Pokémon to the other side of the island while the gang took to the sea with Officer Jenny, the fight between the two Legendary Pokémon had begun. And it was epic in all aspects. Darkrai had used every move he used against Ash and his Pokémon back in Canalave City while the Deoxys had surprised everyone other than Ash and Brock by changing forms to suit the next move used.

In one new form in which its attack power seemed to increase, its legs remain tapered. However, its blue stripes are no longer segmented and run the entire length of the leg and there is now a large spike on the knee. Two pairs of whip-like tentacles with pointed tips, one reddish-orange and one blue, replace its previous coiled, blunted tentacles. The protrusion on its head are now triangular with an additional one extending for the top of its head. Most of its reddish-orange skin has receded, revealing a striated, black chest and abdomen. Finally, its tail is now longer and more pointed.

Another form that seemed to increase its defenses has bulky, wide legs that are somewhat flat at the end with a bluish-green spot on each knee. It retains its two pairs of red and blue tentacles, but they are now flat and broad. The head has fused with its body and all protrusion are gone, causing it to resemble a helmet. The reddish-orange skin now covers the entire body, so none of its inner black portion is visible. There is now a single blue stripe on each shoulder, and its tail has disappeared.

And yet there was this other form that surprised everyone this time since the Deoxys from Hoenn never used this one. In this form Deoxys has a sleek black body with thin striation. The reddish-orange skin now covers only its head, hip joints, and the area around its crystal. There is now only one tentacle on each side of its body, one red and one blue. The protrusions on its head now point upward and the back of its head now forms a long spike. There is a long, thick blue stripe running down the center of this longer protrusion. More blue stripes appear on either hip joint and on its legs. This form looked like it increased the speed of this wild, Legendary Pokémon.

But after a good hour, the match was off to a stand hill when both Legendary Pokémon had wasted their energy on their moves and are left with no energy left to even move from the craters they made throughout the spot on the beach that contained the waterfall. So it was clear that it was now safe to get in closer.

Ash had given Darkrai a Hyper Potion and a Max Elixir that both healed his health and replenished his energy to use moves again. Meanwhile, the Deoxys regained some of its own health by pushing itself to use **Recover**. Everyone was wondering why Ash was risking get the two to fight again until nothing happened between Darkrai and the wild Deoxys.

Instead they glanced at each other and somehow, everyone saw a smirk on each of their faces. Darkrai then simply allowed himself to be returned back into his special Pokéball. Meanwhile, Deoxys said something that alerted all the wild Pokémon on the island; to them, Deoxys was saying thanks for all the help they gave it and while it had to leave, it promises to come back one day to visit again. Deoxys then disappeared in a flash of bright light.

"W-what happened?" Dawn asked from besides Ash who never lost his smirk at all and neither did Pikachu.

"Something mysterious Dawn and yet something wonderful too. Darkrai has now found someone to look forward to and battle again. What else is there when it comes to rivals?" Ash said and Dawn looked up to him, "I have learned my own answer to that question Dawn. Maybe you will find out an answer too, just for you."

"Answer? About having a rival? I already have one Ash." Dawn said with a little confusion but Ash just shook his head.

"Your rivalry with Joey maybe friendly but I have seen both sides to having a rival. You will have to see it too as you get better." Ash said from all the experience he had in Kanto, Johto and Hoenn. Dawn just dropped it after seeing that rock-hard expression that seemed unmovable at all. And yet Dawn made sure to remember what Ash had just told her since he never let her down before.

XXXXX

"And as you all know, it is time for the arrival of our divine guardians during their annual migration!" A tour guide shouted through a mike which was loud enough for the gang and their Pokémon who were in some kind of submarine. This was because they finally arrived in Chocovine Town after their encounter on the island in Diablo's Ocean; but instead of a contest awaiting them, it was a festival!

It was a festival about some kind of Legendary Pokémon that was once again native to Sinnoh but it sure wasn't Darkrai or Cresselia but another Pokémon that was said to be the offspring of Manaphy, the Prince of the Sea. Yet another Pokémon that Ash, Pikachu and Brock had encountered in Hoenn; unaware that it was instead more native to Sinnoh.

Ash told Dawn that Manaphy is a small, blue, aquatic Pokémon with stubby feet and club-like arms that are longer than its body. It has a red gem on its chest and a yellow dot below the gem. Its onion-shaped head has a pair of long blue antennae, which have small spheres on the ends. Its irises are dark blue with yellow sclera, and there are two yellow dots of "eyelash" markings extending from the eyes.

Eighty percent of Manaphy's body is made of water. It is highly susceptible to its environment, and swims long distances to return to its birthplace. It is born with a special power that allows it to bond with any Pokémon. Manaphy can switch the perspective of people, and Pokémon, with each other using its signature move, **Heart Swap**.

But while the gang had to shut off their ears with all the racket the locals onboard the sub were making, there was a school of strange Pokémon that happened to be what the local customers were so excited about. Too bad the gang couldn't get a good look other than the Qwilfish, Luvdisc, and Finneon since the locals were crowding up the windows facing the school. But what they didn't know was that they will actually see one of these rare and Legendary Pokémon more up close then they can imagine. And that was because one from the school had left the group and begun to follow the sub,

This Pokémon was a blue Pokémon with a round head and a tiny body. Its head is crowned by a flotation sac with a long, ribbon-like antenna. Its mouth is small, and its eyes are large with blue sclera and gray irises. Above its eyes are two blue, circular markings connected to the eyes by a thin black line. Its long, flipper-like arms have rounded tips. It has a red, oval gem on its chest and a single rudimentary foot spike.

It followed the sub while focusing on one of the Pokémon inside that was viewing the rest of the scenery. But that still didn't stop this strange Pokémon from continuing to follow the submarine. There was just this something about that certain Pokémon that convinced this water dweller to chase after.

Later, the gang were relaxing on a beach with their Pokémon out to enjoy the sun and surf as well. Pikachu of course, had something else to do besides relax; he was told by Ash to allow a certain Pokémon to snuggle with him by Ash. And it was the Pokémon that was trained by Dawn who only caught her because of her interest in Pikachu; on the extent of a young crush was the Normal type Rabbit Pokémon, Buneary.

Buneary is a small, bipedal, rabbit-like Pokémon with brown ears that can curl up. It has two types of fur covering its body: a light tan fleece that covers much of its lower body, feet and the tips of their ears, and a smooth chocolate colored pelt on the upper half of its body. It has a small, triangular pink nose, pink paw pads on the undersides of its feet and small tan spots above its eyes. It has a small brown puff of a tail. It is commonly depicted with one ear curled up. If it senses danger, it perks up both ears. It can deliver powerful blows with its curled up ears, and it has an impressive jumping ability.

On cold nights, Buneary sleeps with its head tucked into its fur. It lives in forests, though it can also be found on icy mountains. It is most likely herbivorous. Buneary also likes to eat certain kinds of flowers found in the wild.

And this Buneary was indeed with Pikachu, snuggling into the fur of the Electric Mouse Pokémon. Pikachu didn't mind Buneary but had to deal with the embarrassment that came with a Pokémon with a crush that strong and monstrous of Buneary's. It was hard to do so but Ash told his best friend to endure it because once you lose something as wonderful as this, then your heart will definitely shatter; strangely enough, Pikachu saw some much convince in those words. It was like it happened to Ash before but Pikachu couldn't remember such a thing so it must have happened to Ash before the two met; but nevertheless, Ash never told Pikachu what it was, even when this conversation keep coming back.

But all looking back was interrupted when the sea water right in front of Pikachu and Buneary had erupted very loudly. Enough to alert the two Pokémon and the others nearby who forgone their activities to go and see what is going. And they saw that very same strange and rare Pokémon that they keep hearing and only seen in pictures.

Dawn took out her Pokédex and scanned it,

 **{Phione, the Sea Drifter Pokémon. Phione lives in warm oceans. It inflates the flotation sac on its head allowing it to float on the waves and look for food.}**

"So this is the Pokémon that is supposed to give good luck and the one that all the locals here were so excited to see." Ash said but noticed that even when everyone was crowding around this Phione, the Sea Drifter Pokémon didn't seem to even notice. Not even when a very familiar sub had appeared, disguised as a Magikarp.

And yet when Team Rocket exited out of their sub, they acted lie they were going to watch a soap opera along with their Pokémon including the ever talking Meowth.

Meowth is a small, feline Pokémon with cream-colored fur that turns brown at the tips of its hind paws and tail. Its ovoid head features four prominent whiskers, wide eyes with slit pupils, two pointed teeth in the upper jaw, and a gold oval coin embedded in its forehead. Its ears are black with brown interiors, and are flanked with an additional pair of long whiskers. Meowth is a quadruped with the ability to walk on its hind legs; while there are some Ash had seen on hind legs, most Meowth normally walks on all fours. It can freely manipulate its claws, retracting them when it wants to move silently. The tip of its tail curls tightly.

Meowth is attracted to round and shiny objects, and has the unique ability to produce coins using **Pay Day**. It is known to wander about city streets and pick up anything that that sparkles, including loose change. Upon finding a sparkling object, its eyes will glitter and the coin on its forehead will shine brightly. Meowth is a playful Pokémon with the capacity for human-like intelligence.

But along Meowth is James's Mime Jr. Mime Jr. is a small, pink Pokémon with dark blue legs and "hat," which appears crooked and has a white ball on it. A red bump appears on its stomach and a typical red clown nose appears on its face. It has slender arms and small hands. Mime Jr. has a knack for imitating others; it can easily pick up emotions of those around it and imitate it. It has been known to mimic its foes in order to create distractions. Once the foe is confused, it will quickly escape. It likes places where many people gather.

And with the both of them are Jessie's long running partner Wobbuffet. Wobbuffet is a tall, cyan Pokémon with a soft body. Its eyes usually appear scrunched, and it has a jagged upper lip. The female Wobbuffet has a red marking on its mouth that resembles lipstick, while the male does not. It has flat arms that are wider towards the tip and four stubby legs at the base of its body. There are two eyespots on its black tail. Wobbuffet is very protective of its tail, to the point where it will suddenly turn uncharacteristically aggressive if the tail is attacked.

Wobbuffet is usually a docile Pokémon that will never attack first. However, when it is attacked, it will inflate its body and initiate a counterstrike. When two or more of this Pokémon meet, they will attempt to outlast each other in a battle of endurance. However, since neither is able to attack, they may compete to see which can last without food. Because of its overprotective nature regarding its tail and hatred of light, Wobbuffet lives in dark caves.

Back to the Phione staring at both Pikachu and Buneary with a mixture of emotions but it was clear who had what from this Legendary Pokémon. The Phione was staring at Pikachu with jealously and anger that Buneary is snuggling with the latter instead of being interested in the former; speaking of whom, the Phione looked at Buneary with such interest that it can be past as a crazed inflation for the Rabbit Pokémon. It was like Phione was glaring at his rival while eying the prize it has its eyes on.

"This is really creeping me out." Ash said and everyone including Brock's Croagunk and Happiny as well as Dawn's Piplup and Pachirisu. "It is like a Legendary Pokémon somehow is infatuated with Buneary. And most Legendries are genderless, this prevents them from breeding with each other and all Non-Legendary Pokémon." Everyone was also confused too and it only made the circumstances a lot more unpleasant.

And to make things edgier, it seems that Buneary had somehow gained enough confidence to get between Pikachu and Phione. She then asked for a wager that involved them to fight and if Phione should win, Buneary will have to on a date with it! While the Pokémon were shocked, especially Pikachu, Ash tried to tell everyone present on what he could tell from all this.

Dawn was also especially worried. She barely trained her Buneary for battle, only for contests and the last time she even heard of a Legendary losing to a Non-Legendary was with Ash's Pikachu who had been harden by countless duels over the course of a few years; no way Buneary can gain all that before the day ends!

Nevertheless, Phione accepted the challenge, thinking that its reputation as one of the strongest species of Pokémon will guarantee its victory and the date with the Rabbit Pokémon its madly in love with. And they started off with each using **Ice Beam** right off the fly which caused everyone but Team Rocket to back off; after all the trio were still on the sub, barley out of the water.

This stalemate went on for several minutes and the more time passes, the more anxious Pikachu gets. His head was filled with the lessons Ash said of what happens when one takes the affection and inflation from another for granted until it is all gone. Now Pikachu is feeling that his heart will ultimately and bitterly shatter if Buneary does lose and has to go on a date with Phione. He could just feel the cracks in his chest just imagining Buneary going with an actual Legendary Pokémon, one that never loses and actually listens to her.

Ash saw this and embraced Pikachu which seemed to barley did anything. "It is okay Pikachu. Whatever happens, you will see Buneary in a much better light. That is all that matters." Ash said but Pikachu was only focusing on what can possibility happen is Buneary loses this match.

And something no sort of a freak accident occurred when Buneary had found an opening to distract the wild Phione and unleashed the full power of her Ice Beam that was able to knock out even a Legendary Pokémon and one with a type resistance. Everyone was in awe and Pikachu was so overjoyed that he found himself hugging Buneary like a bear does; this of course made Buneary blush hard that now it was her crush hugging her instead of the reverse like the times before.

"She did it! She defeated a Legendary Pokémon!" Dawn bounced up and down until she noticed that Ash and Brock were not even the least bit excited compared to how she was. "What's wrong?"

"There is still a debate as to Phione being a Legendary Pokémon Dawn." Ash started. "Like I said, Legendries are not supposed to breed and yet the only way for any Phione to be born is to breed a Manaphy. And they don't even evolve into Manaphy, they are born Phione and they are going to stay that way, never going to be official Legendary Pokémon." Ash explained the whole way as Brock nodded as well, all this just dashed Dawn's hope to be a trainer who did what only Ash ever did.

Meanwhile, Phione was heartbroken for both that it lost humiliatingly in front of her everyone & to the one it had hoped to go on a date with and that it lost when he thought itself as one of the invincible species worthy of being Legendary; only to hear from the trainers that calling all Phione Legendary is nothing but a dodgy topic. It just want to leave for the waves in pity and shame. But Buneary had sent him off with something to sleep with at night; that she will keep getting stronger in all aspects so that they can fight again.

But of course, everyone almost forgot that Team Rocket was still there. And when they tried to capture the distracted Phione, Buneary came to its rescue by using Ice Beam one more time that day to freeze the net and give Pikachu enough time to send them flying with a **Thunderbolt**. Just another encounter with Team Rocket on any Pokémon they have their eyes on.

After Phione said its goodbyes and wen to find its school, Ash and the gang returned to the Pokémon Center where they plan on resting for Dawn's next Pokémon Contest. They all were just glad to see that Pikachu was spending a lot more time with Buneary who enjoyed the closer company. That was what Ash had in mind when he was in his room seeming alone with his shadow but like before, his shadow turned into the very Dark type Pokémon who had been watching Pikachu handle this situation that involved the one who frustrates him with her crush but want Buneary to win in his favor.

"I suppose you have already seen it Darkrai." Not waiting for a response, Ash continued. "That relationships do shift to break-up and that isn't the sigh of a failing one but a test to improve it. Now Pikachu sees that Buneary is actually a very good Pokémon and he just told me that she was his type. They have a bright future after how their friendship was about to collapse today." Darkrai nodded, looking down. He always thought that relationships were just frail bonds, about to break any day and people just ruin it while trying to prevent it from shattering. He will just have to ignore those who do and give everyone the chance to prove him wrong.

What is for sure, this bond with Ash as Pokémon and his trainer won't be so bad after all. Darkrai has learned ten time about other Pokémon and trainers than he ever did for as long as he can remember. That's strong stuff for sure.

XXXXX

The next day in Chocovine Town,

"Pachirisu, use **Discharge**!" Dawn was up really early in the morning with her Elesquirrel Pokémon. Pachirisu is a small, white squirrel-like Pokémon with a faint blueish tint and a light blue stripe starting from its forehead and goes all the way down to the tip of the tail. A large white tooth grows out of its mouth. It has deep gray eyes and a yellow circle on each cheek. Its tail is almost twice as big as its body, with three spikes at the top of the curl, which it can use to shoot charges. Though its arms and legs are very short, it can run incredibly fast, enabling it to tire pursuing Pokémon out quickly. It has a great amount of electricity flowing in its body. If it builds up enough charge, it may shock other Pokémon.

When it sleeps, Pachirisu likes to curl its big, fluffy tail round to the front of its body and uses it as a pillow. It also likes to chase and groom its tail. When a Pachirisu sheds its fur it shapes them into furballs, which have static charges just like its fur. It hides its favorite foods—which mainly consist of berries—in these static puffs and stores them in tree holes. It does this to protect the food; if a human or another Pokémon tries to take the food, they will get shocked from the static. It may rub cheek pouches with another Pachirisu to share stored electricity. It is generally found in tree tops in forests, as well as the outskirts of a forest and near power plants.

"Nice, Pikachu had done wonders to increase the power of Pachirisu's **Discharge** attack." Ash commented and Pikachu rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Ash just smirked at how powerful and yet modest his Pikachu is; kind of like how Ash has really improved as a trainer but has no wish to show to anyone, the least his own friends. But this day has just begun to get rotten when,

"I have finally found you, you cheater!" Everyone turned to see a girl around Dawn's own age that had some kind of color that is a peach color in spiral dual ponytails. Her outfit was light and yet it screams bratty and arrogance. "I thought that following the Pokémon Contests will lead me to you! And finally I will get even for what you have done to me!"

"Excuse me but this is the first time we got acquainted, so don't be so rude and introduce yourself." Ash said in a stern tone that somehow silenced this strange girl with some kind of Pokémon Ash had never seen before. Still, she didn't say another word so Ash figured he will scan the new Pokémon by her side.

 **{Gabite, the Cave Pokémon. Gabite goes wild for precious jewels, first digging them up and then stashing them in its nest.}**

Gabite is a medium-sized, bipedal dragon-like Pokémon that is primarily blue. Its underside is light blue, with red covering it from the middle of its abdomens to the bottoms of its jaw. Gabite has two appendages that resemble jets or plane engines extending out the side of its skull. Each appendage has a blue stripe. It has four fins, one on each arm, one on its back and another one on its tail. It has spikes on its hind limbs, and sharp claws on its feet. Its eyes have black scleras and gold colored irises.

Gabite is a fierce and predatory Pokémon, known for its scales, of which have medicinal properties and can heal most illnesses. Gabite has short, extremely sharp teeth. It has been known to move at extreme speeds. Gabite is also a very territorial creature, and will fight back against enemies to protect its home. Gabite has a habit of digging up gems and hoarding them in its nest.

"So this is what Cynthia's Garchomp evolved from." Ash remarked when he saw that Gabite and Garchomp were all part of the same evolutionary line. And since the woman still has yet to speak so Ash decided to check out what Gabite evolves from,

 **{Gible, the Land Shark Pokémon. It attacks using its huge mouth. While its attacks are powerful, it hurts itself out of clumsiness, too.}**

Gible is a small, bipedal dragon-like Pokémon that is primarily blue. It has a big mouth filled with sharp teeth, no neck, and arms that start at the outer edges of its jaws. A red underbelly stretches from its abdomen to the bottom of its jaw. Gible has two horns that resemble jet or plane engines, each with a light blue stripe in the middle. It has a single light blue stripe wrapping around its back. The fin on its head is strong enough to carry a person. Gible appears to be a good digger, making deep holes for homes in caverns. It enjoy play-fighting with other members of its species. It has tremendously strong jaws that it uses to bite enemies. However, when biting, it often hurts itself because of clumsiness.

By this time, this woman had finally begun to speak. "My name is Ursula and I am here to tell you Dawn, winner of the Wallace Cup, that you only won by chance instead of skill, you cheater!" The woman, now called Ursula, proclaimed and now the gang had tried to settle things down until Ash had a brain surge.

"And no wonder you know about all that…" Ash said, "Dawn, I saw every Coordinator who was eliminated in the very first round. And I remember seeing Ursula there too." Ash said and Ursula was just about to explode if not it was Ash who said it.

"That's right! They didn't appreciate the talent me and Gabite have and they had the nerve to eliminate us from the rest of the Contest! If I only made it to the battle rounds then I would have won!" Ursula had another outburst.

"Then how about this, I will enter along with Dawn and if we match up then I fight you during the Contest Battle rounds. If you win then you can say all you want until you make it to face Dawn but if you lose then you will have to respect that Dawn had found everything in her life fairly and with skills she worked hard to learn. Is it a deal?" Ash explained and showed out his hand for Ursula to shake if the answer is 'yes'.

Ursula stared at for a while and then shook it before telling her Gabite to come with her. Meanwhile, Dawn was berating Ash; the only time that Ash ever competed in a Contest was the Wallace Cup and he only made it to the Top Eight. No doubt that Ash hadn't made plans to compete in any other Contest and thus his skills are noteworthy rusty. But Ash said that Dawn has gained the type of rival he had warned her about and because of that, Ash is going to try and help Dawn in the best way he can think of.

Then Ash took all his Pokémon said that he needed to get ready for the Contest. Dawn and Brock were just hoping that Ash knows what he is doing. And no matter what they did, it was time for the Pokémon Contest of Chocovine Town. Marian introduced her and the judges, in reverse order of course, and then announced every single Coordinator who will be judged in their Appeal Round in order to decide if they are fit to make it to the Battle Rounds; the usual, protocol, the works if you prefer.

After a couple have their rounds judged, only one of them actually made it to the Battle Rounds, Dawn went next. And with Brock, Pikachu and her Pokémon watching, she soared and impressed the judges with the power of her Buneary's aerial jumping and the talent for **Ice Beam**. Like a child on its favorite slide, Buneary used her adorable charm with an innocent love for fun on her recently created slide from Ice Beam and right into Dawn's arms. The judges pretty much passed Dawn right from the beginning, all this is proof of Dawn's hidden talents in the field of Pokémon Coordinating.

And her friends in the stand loved it. Pikachu, Piplup both cheered while Mamoswine was wondering on how he was going to do it with his own pompoms. But the real cheer came from Ambipom. Ambipom is a purple, simian Pokémon with two tails, each with a large, rounded hand with three red-tipped fingers. The tails also have a cuff of a rounded frill on the wrists. The bases of Ambipom's tails also have a similar frill. It has round ears with red insides. Ambipom has an arrangement of a split hair sticking out from the top of its head. These strands of hair are longer on a female. It has a purple, triangular nose and wide eyes.

Ambipom can leap from tree to tree with brilliant speed. To eat, it deftly shucks nuts with its two tails. As it has two hands on its tails, it rarely uses its arms. Ambipom works in large colonies in heavily wooded areas and makes rings by linking tails with another Ambipom, apparently in friendship. It lives along with its young, Aipom. And this one came from Ash initially but she loved Contests better so Ambipom, an Aipom back then, was traded to be Dawn's Pokémon until a strange encounter had caused her to evolve with the **Double Hit** move learned. Ambipom loved her trainer and used duel pompoms with both large hands in an effort to maximize the amount of cheer and support.

But while the judges and the crowds loved the show, there was this feeling of arrogance that was ruining the good mood. And every single other Coordinator knew exactly where it was coming from; Ursula. She was acting like she taught Dawn that move and was criticizing it. "I think that Dawn worked hard for this Contest Ursula. Besides no one asked for your opinion." Ash's voice finally got her to simmer down a portion and everyone spoke their agreements since they had to listen to Ursula's criticism ever since the Appeal Rounds actually started. As for Ash himself, he was wearing the same outfit that his friends helped him pick out for the Wallace Cup weeks ago; a black gentleman style suit over a gray vest and an undershirt complete with gray pants, white gloves and a gray fedora.

Then it was time for another Coordinator that Ash had a distinctive feeling on who it was given that the hair size and color were the same as well as being the trainer of a Yanmega, all like Jessie. Ash just wondered how Jessie of Team Rocket was able to get into the Pokémon Contest legally. This wasn't the first region that Ash had seen this type of Coordinator but back in Hoenn, she was never able to earn even just one badge; this Coordinator named Jessilina had really blossomed into a considerable rival for Dawn along with Kenny, Joey and Nando.

In this Appeal Round, Jessilina's Yanmega had used its **Silver Wind** to pick up a gust around herself until the Ogre Darner Pokémon had shown to speed up the move it moved. Ash heard Marian call it Yanmega's Speed Boost which made it pre-evolved from Yanma famous. Soon, Yanmega was moving so fast that Jessilina was practically lifting off the ground in the vortex. To finish things off, Jessilina had her Yanmega use **Sonic Boom** and then another **Silver Wind** to fill the air with shiny particles. That allowed Jessilina to advance to the Battle Rounds.

Then it was finally Ursula's turn and the Pokémon she sent out, she called it Wormadam. Wormadam is a black, bagworm-like Pokémon that can be either covered in leaves, sand or any building insulation. It has oval eyes, a long pointed beak, and a long antenna with a coiled tip. The beak is tipped with varying colors depending on the coat. The coat forms a pair of arm-like structures near this Pokémon's head. It will be dotted with reddish-brown rocks, and have chains of pebbles for arms and a brown tipped beak if it has the Sandy Cloak. Wormadam that evolve on cold days are said to form thicker cloaks. It is a female-only species, with Mothim as its male counterpart.

Ash had seen this before and much earlier in his Sinnoh Journey with all three forms of Wormadam under a single trainer who was hoping to find a Burmy that is male so that it will evolve into a Mothim. Back to current events, Ursula was able to use moves like **Confusion** , **Rock Blast** and **Sandstorm** to appease the crowds and judges only to finish with **Captivate**.

Now it was Ash's turn. He showed up and summoned his Gliscor with the effects of a sand storm that had excited the crowd. "Let's start things off while the crowds are excited Gliscor, use **Sandstorm**!" Gliscor unleashed another sand storm on the field, making everyone wonder what Ash has in mind. "Now begin with **Rock Slide**!" Gliscor, now hidden within the **Sandstorm** , had still heard that command and everyone saw that above the vortex of sand were stones that appeared out of nowhere and begun to drop into the **Sandstorm**. "Gliscor, do as we practiced!" Ash shouted and everyone were on the edge of their seats since Ash is purposely keeping in suspense.

But what happened was something once again unimagined. A couple of minutes after Gliscor used **Rock Slide** , the **Sandstorm** was dispelled and the boulders they saw enter the sandy vortex had suddenly exploded into harmless particles while imitating fireworks. The crowds were amazed to see Gliscor right in the center of it all and yet showed no fear. It was like Gliscor is presenting fireworks out of a sand storm. "It is time for our finale. Gliscor, use **Acrobatics**!"

Gliscor then flew all around the air with the fireworks and right into them too! " **Aerial Ace**!" Gliscor then soared around the air with something special or the eyes of the crowds and judges. Gliscor was flying straight and true while acting a lot lie a comet, with the fireworks as his trailing tail! "Finally, **Roost**." Ash said calmly and Gliscor descended like a bird homing in on its nest and landed right on the ground with the fireworks still following him as his tail until they all settled on the ground around Gliscor in the form of a sixteen point star for all to see as both trainer and Pokémon bowed to the crowds.

"Amazing! Incredible! Simply outstanding!" Marian roared with excitement as she was also on the edge of her seat, wanting to see every that Ash had planned for them. "Gliscor did all those moves in that particular combo like he was born to pull it off! And Ash, he never hesitated or get nervous; he knew that his Pokémon will pull through! And Gliscor trusted Ash to give him the right commands at the right time too! Those two are among the best in terms of bonds between Coordinator and Pokémon!"

The judges firmly agreed in Marian's outburst. What is more is that it was revealed that while every other Appeal was recorded as protocol, the judges ordered a copy for themselves as they saw that Ash knew more about Gliscor than the average trainer for any Ground or Flying type. Ash was immediately passed and allowed to partake in the Battle Rounds.

Dawn rushed to greet Ash and tell him about how excited she was seeing that display while almost ignoring the other Coordinator's Appeals. "Thanks Dawn. I learned the best from you and your Buneary." Ash simply said and Dawn was frozen; she was the one who was learning from Ash and yet he learned something from her too? That cause something to sparkle within herself and it is strong for sure.

Then it was time for the Battle Rounds where eight of the remaining Coordinators will face each other two on two. But unlike Gym Battles in which Pokémon are sent to battle until the last one standing, Contest Battles were different. At the start of every Contest Battle, both Coordinators start off on a five-minute timer and each a full set of points. There were three basic ways to wind in Contest Battles. One, the opposing Pokémon faints. Two, the opposing Coordinator loses all their points before the timer goes off. And three, the timer goes off and the Coordinator with the most points wins. How to lose points is to fail at a move, miss the opposing Pokémon or being hit by the opposing Pokémon. That is how a Contest Battle is different from any other Pokémon Battle; to improve on not only beauty of a Pokémon but also the ability to avoid damage and practically control the battlefield with style and skill.

Dawn went up first and her Pachirisu used Hyper Fang on a Weavile. Jessilina used a Cranivine against a Hippopotas. Ursula used her Gabite against a Hariyama. And Ash used his Gliscor against a Corsola. And then the first round of the Contest Battles were over and soon the second round was to start with Dawn against Jessilina and the two were almost evenly matched until the timer saved Dawn a few extra points to pass to the final round. But after hers was Ash versus Ursula.

"Battle begin!" Marian announced and Ursula decided to take the first move since actually wanted to fight against Dawn but instead she was pitted with Ash.

"Gabite, use **Dragon Claw**!" Gabite charges with one of her fangs covered in blue light with the intent of dealing damage to Gliscor who just stayed right in his spot, on his scorpion like tail, waiting for Ash's word.

"Wait for it…" Gliscor nodded briefly so that Ursula won't catch on in his overconfidence. And when Gabite jumped for the hit, " **Sandstorm** forward!" Ash shouted and when Gabite was still above the ground, with no time to move out of the way for Gliscor to summon winds of sand and hit the Cave Pokémon, thus stopping **Dragon Claw** from even hitting. And because of Gabite's failure to hit Gliscor, Ursula had already lost a small amount of points under half a minute. "Now hold it and expand it around the field." Ash said and Gliscor was able to savage the desert winds from the makeshift block and spread the Sandstorm until the entire battlefield was covered in a sand storm, reaching only a few inches from the two Coordinators.

And yet despite the thick sands, Ash still saw Ursula growl and flinch by this. "Don't dare to even twitch under all this, Ursula! I have made this far by working hard and fighting to win so that is what I am going to do now!" Ash barked through the sands and somehow, his opponent heard it perfectly. "Gliscor, use **Hone Claws**." Ash said and everyone but his friend were confused on the strange move; it was still something inclusive to Ash and anyone that sees him use some moves like this one.

"I don't know what you have in mind but you underestimate your enemy!" Ursula shouted despite everyone sweat dropping at the voice of a hypocrite before shouting, "Gabite, use **Aerial Ace**!"

" **Quick Attack**!" Ursula was shocked to hear that move and was even more surprised to see that Gabite was hit despite the **Sandstorm** and was sent out of the sandy vortex. She was starting to get angry to see that only a minute had passed and she lost a third of her points. It was like Ash had been playing with her and knows how to counter her attacks.

"ENOUGH! GABITE USE **STONE EDGE**!" Ursula exploded as her Cave Pokémon struggled to get up. Then, two light blue rings surround Gabite's body. Then, the rings disappear and two rings of glowing white rocks circle Gabite's body. Gabite's eyes then glow light blue and it fires the stones at the **Sandstorm**. "NOW USE **DRAGON RAGE**!" Ursula was not going to let Ash call out another move. Gabite opens its mouth and fires a red-orange fireball from its mouth at the Sandstorm which caused it to reveal Gliscor out in the open. Still, Ursula didn't know why Ash didn't lose any points. "Now finish all this off with **Aerial Ace**!"

Gabite's body becomes surrounded by white streaks and it flies into Gliscor multiple times. But when Ursula thought that she had finally gotten Ash, the Gliscor suddenly and somehow shattered in sparkling pieces. "Wow folks, looks like Ash had been prepared for pretty much anything and taught his Gliscor how to use the move **Substitute**!" Ursula gasped and saw that she lost even more points after falling for Ash's plan completely. "Now not even we know where the real Gliscor can be!"

"Oh yeah, Gabite use **Sandstorm**!" Ursula was going to find Gliscor even if she will have her Gabite tear up the battlefield. "And now use **Dig**! Then Gliscor will have no place left the hide!" While Ursula roared until her throat grew dry, Ash didn't speak a single word.

"You are too confident Ursula." Ash suddenly spoke and after a while, it was like a ghost started to speak in the room and spooked everyone in the room. "You think that you can walk up to Dawn and call all her Pokémon and her hard work cheating when she trained herself to the ground to win the Wallace Cup. You act like you should have won it. You act like you should win every contest you enter. You are wrong Ursula and now Gliscor, use **Ice Fang**!"

Ursula felt like time had stopped when the Sandstorm dispelled to show that Gliscor had been flying above it the whole time, hidden with the help of the desert winds. And for being a Ground type, Gliscor knew to find where Gabite started to dig and sent the Cave Pokémon out of the ground while biting down with ice covering his fangs, dealing fours time the Super Effective damage. Gabite fell from the chilly fangs with barely the energy left to stand.

Ursula fell to her knees with tears in her eyes. All of her training, her best Pokémon, everything was useless in order to win against Ash. And yet the unthinkable had happened. "Now that is done, I forfeit!" Everyone gasped, Ash had made this far and he can win this Contest by storm, and now he is forfeiting!? "You hear me. I didn't enter for any Ribbon, I didn't enter to be a Coordinator. That isn't the life for me or any of my Pokémon. Fame just isn't what is best for us."

"Are you kidding me!?" Ursula roared, "Then why did you embarrass me!? My Pokémon!? My talents!? My future as Top Coordinator!?"

"Because you did the same to Dawn, one of my friends Ursula." Ash said plainly and Gliscor nodded. "I entered this Contest so that if you did indeed fought me instead of Dawn, I will show you that victories are never faked. They are earned through skill, with faith in bonds and through hard work. You can see all of it with my and Gliscor plainly. And you lost to the very three things you spit and laugh at; I know this ever since we first formally met." Ursula flinched at how she made a poor first impression to people who never got the chance to know slightly better.

"By standing that only natural talent is the key to Ribbons and being a Coordinator than you were not only insulting me, insult Dawn but every single Coordinator is this hall and all across Sinnoh. They all are different but they truly are Coordinators because they work hard, train hard and establish bonds between Pokémon. Natural Talent means nothing to them but you!" Ash continued and pointed to the crowds in all directions and Ursula could see the glares from all the Coordinators in the stands watching the battle. "If you want to keep this up then do it for all I care or anyone else for that matter. But I don't want to be a Coordinator is you see yourself as the example of a real Coordinator. And no else either and that is why I am forfeiting." Ash finished before returning his Gliscor back to his Pokéball.

The end result was everyone cheering for Ash while booing at Ursula who remained on the stage since she did have a place in the final Contest Battle in the Chocovine Pokémon Contest. With her exhausted and broken Pokémon and her soul even more, Ursula tried to fight to win with what is left of her overconfidence but she ultimately fell to her imperfect feature via special moves that Dawn had cooked up so that nothing is taken advantage of; moves such as dodging attacks and Pachirisu moving around so that Gabite instead stumble, the Electric type Pokémon didn't as much as attack because against a ruined Pokémon, they will be no different than bullies. The match was all neutral despite what the circumstances could be in default.

The Contest was filled with building excitement that just died in one fell swoop but what rose where the first fell was the heartfelt devotion of a trainer to another. Every Coordinator came home with all these forever cemented in their minds, along with various emotions from the chances that Ash used that involved Dawn were much more appreciated than that Ursula ever did when she kept telling everyone that she will defeat Dawn, and all that rising rookie ever did was win the Wallace Cup fair and square. Just how beautiful loyalty can be when it came to friends?

Whatever is the answer, Darkrai will be trying to figure out all from his experience within Ash's physical shadow for the entire day. Ash was just his opposite to what Darkrai always thought humans were and what is more is that Darkrai feels like he is slowly becoming more like Ash. Whatever this will be good or bad will be up to all those who are asked the question.

End of Chapter 5.

 ***Well, I once again had to cut loose ends again and this time, I had to take one chapter as planned and into three. And this time, I feel like doing episodes DP112 and DP113. I feel like if Darkrai and Ash are going to be the center stage then I need to include all the episodes in order to tell just how I intend Ash's Darkrai experience what the Ash in the canon did.**

 **I hope you don't mind me having Ash partake in the Chocovine Town Pokémon Contest but I had an internal debate about all this. I ultimately decided for it since it otherwise be boring to just summarize most of the episode in this story. Tell me what you think and let me know if I accidently copied any of your own variations of Ash's Pokémon Contest Appeals; I haven't read all of them on this website.**

 **If you watched the original Pokémon series then you know that they did an episode in which Pikachu, along with some of Ash's Kanto Pokémon had been separated from their trainer. In order to understand them, subtitles were installed along with the Pokémon's dialogue.**


	6. Darkrai Learns Another Lesson!

Master of Bad Dreams

Darkrai Learns Another Lesson!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

 _Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,_

" _You are too confident Ursula." Ash suddenly spoke and after a while, it was like a ghost started to speak in the room and spooked everyone in the room. "You think that you can walk up to Dawn and call all her Pokémon and her hard work cheating when she trained herself to the ground to win the Wallace Cup. You act like you should have won it. You act like you should win every contest you enter. You are wrong Ursula and now Gliscor, use Ice Fang!"_

 _Ursula felt like time had stopped when the Sandstorm dispelled to show that Gliscor had been flying above it the whole time, hidden with the help of the desert winds. And for being a Ground type, Gliscor knew to find where Gabite started to dig and sent the Cave Pokémon out of the ground while biting down with ice covering his fangs, dealing fours time the Super Effective damage. Gabite fell from the chilly fangs with barely the energy left to stand._

 _Ursula fell to her knees with tears in her eyes. All of her training, her best Pokémon, everything was useless in order to win against Ash. And yet the unthinkable had happened. "Now that is done, I forfeit!" Everyone gasped, Ash had made this far and he can win this Contest by storm, and now he is forfeiting!? "You hear me. I didn't enter for any Ribbon, I didn't enter to be a Coordinator. That isn't the life for me or any of my Pokémon. Fame just isn't what is best for us."_

 _"Are you kidding me!?" Ursula roared, "Then why did you embarrass me!? My Pokémon!? My talents!? My future as Top Coordinator!?"_

 _"Because you did the same to Dawn, one of my friends Ursula." Ash said plainly and Gliscor nodded. "I entered this Contest so that if you did indeed fought me instead of Dawn, I will show you that victories are never faked. They are earned through skill, with faith in bonds and through hard work. You can see all of it with my and Gliscor plainly. And you lost to the very three things you spit and laugh at; I know this ever since we first formally met." Ursula flinched at how she made a poor first impression to people who never got the chance to know slightly better._

 _"By standing that only natural talent is the key to Ribbons and being a Coordinator than you were not only insulting me, insult Dawn but every single Coordinator is this hall and all across Sinnoh. They all are different but they truly are Coordinators because they work hard, train hard and establish bonds between Pokémon. Natural Talent means nothing to them but you!" Ash continued and pointed to the crowds in all directions and Ursula could see the glares from all the Coordinators in the stands watching the battle. "If you want to keep this up then do it for all I care or anyone else for that matter. But I don't want to be a Coordinator if you see yourself as the example of a real Coordinator. And no else either and that is why I am forfeiting." Ash finished before returning his Gliscor back to his Pokéball._

 _The end result was everyone cheering for Ash while booing at Ursula who remained on the stage since she did have a place in the final Contest Battle in the Chocovine Pokémon Contest. With her exhausted and broken Pokémon and her soul even more, Ursula tried to fight to win with what is left of her overconfidence but she ultimately fell to her imperfect feature via special moves that Dawn had cooked up so that nothing is taken advantage of; moves such as dodging attacks and Pachirisu moving around so that Gabite instead stumble, the Electric type Pokémon didn't as much as attack because against a ruined Pokémon, they will be no different than bullies. The match was all neutral despite what the circumstances could be in default._

 _The Contest was filled with building excitement that just died in one fell swoop but what rose where the first fell was the heartfelt devotion of a trainer to another. Every Coordinator came home with all these forever cemented in their minds, along with various emotions from the chances that Ash used that involved Dawn were much more appreciated than that Ursula ever did when she kept telling everyone that she will defeat Dawn, and all that rising rookie ever did was win the Wallace Cup fair and square. Just how beautiful loyalty can be when it came to friends?_

 _Whatever is the answer, Darkrai will be trying to figure out all from his experience within Ash's physical shadow for the entire day. Ash was just his opposite to what Darkrai always thought humans were and what is more is that Darkrai feels like he is slowly becoming more like Ash. Whatever this will be good or bad will be up to all those who are asked the question._

"You're under arrest!" Just how did a day like this started out until an Officer Jenny came around wearing sunglasses with a Pokémon on her shoulder, saying those three words. It was just yet another run in with Team Rocket in their latest attempt at Ash's Pikachu. As always, they were sent 'blasting off' but not with Pikachu flying along with them and in another direction

That is until this Officer Jenny came on her motorcycle but with Ash's Pikachu safely in her hands. But when Ash politely retrieved his Pikachu, Officer Jenny asked him if he was the same Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town that came to Viridian City. That didn't sit well a little with the raven haired trainer so he braced for anything to happen when he plainly said yes. Getting arrested was on the list of the worse things to occur.

"On what charges? We were the ones attacked by Team Rocket!" Ash defended himself and his friends tried to do as well. They never counted on something like,

"I misspoke. What I was saying was that I need you to catch Team Rocket." Officer Jenny said much to relief of his friends but to curiosity of Ash himself. Officer Jenny said that personally, she was hoping to turn in Team Rocket but hearing that they were in Sinnoh rather than Kanto, Officer Jenny filed for a transfer. All the way with her partner, Chatot.

Chatot is an avian Pokémon similar to a parakeet. Its head is black and resembles an eighth note, while its black tail resembles a metronome. It plumage is brightly colored with blue wings, a yellow chest and feet, a green stomach, and a pink, hooked beak and eyelids. Additionally, there is a ruff of white feathers around its neck. This Pokémon's tongue is similar to a human's, allowing it to imitate human speech. Chatot is also able to mimic the cries of other Pokémon, and uses this ability as a defense mechanism. Chatot uses the sounds it has learned and arranges them into its own melody, and flicks its tail to keep rhythm. Chatot is the only known Pokémon that learns **Chatter**.

As Ash, Pikachu and Brock had already ran into a Chatot before, Dawn was the only one to take out her Pokédex.

 **{Chatot, the Music Note Pokémon. It hears words and then mimics them.}**

But regardless of this development, Ash and his friends didn't know what this transfer Officer Jenny had in mind. Until she asked them to be bait to catch Team Rocket like luring a wild animal into a trap with raw food! That sure didn't work because instead of Team Rocket finding them, it was Officer Jenny's new boss.

Officer Jenny from Kanto sure was dejected that she let her obsession make her blinder then her sunglasses that she was wearing despite no sunshine that day. She just bought the trainers lunch in an attempt to make up for it. Still, Ash and the gang had not going gained free food but also a show when Officer Jenny conjured up a bowling ball to stop some crooks; Chatot also helped by using **Feather Dance** to make the crooks dizzy and unbalanced.

Still, Ash didn't approve that Officer Jenny was then acting like a kid who got a passing grade on a test he lost a week's worth of sleep over. That was because Team Rocket appeared and not only that, they snagged up Officer Jenny's Chatot while she wasn't looking! "Come on you, let's get at Team Rocket." Ash said to the once again dejected Officer Jenny.

"But how!? They can be anywhere in the city…!" Officer Jenny shouted but Ash had just glared him down.

"I thought you were a better detective than that. Why can't you just trust your partner for once?" Ash said before listening to the wind and so did Pikachu. After a while, everyone else just shrugged and tried it too only to hear the familiar cries that no Flying type Pokémon can muster other than,

"My partner, Chatot!" Officer Jenny cried out in happiness and relief until she noticed that Ash and the gang had run ahead of her while she was deep in her clouded mind. "Hey wait for me!" Once she did catch up with them, Ash and the gang had already found Team Rocket who were in their ridiculously but virtually impenetrable robot shaped like a bowling pin.

Officer Jenny had finally made some progress with her bowling balls but she had a limited supply so Team Rocket thought that she was going to lose. Instead, they forgot about Chatot and that caused them to finally be done in by a **Steel Wing** to the likes that even Ash or Brook never seen before. One that managed to trash the seemingly indestructible robot. That was how the day was saved but Team Rocket had been sent blasting off instead of being arrested by Officer Jenny from Kanto, like she wanted but Ash had shown her that putting the lives of others over obsession is something a good person will never do.

After an apology from Officer Jenny who told them where the next Gym is, Ash and the gang said good bye to her as Officer Jenny stated that she was going to return to the Kanto Region that she ultimately abandoned in her obsession with the Team Rocket trio. It was one wild day but of course, there was a lesion to be learned by someone who couldn't do a thing but watch it all unfold.

Darkrai realized something yet again from this encounter. That when you care about something, you will do anything for it. It can be crazy and extreme and yet it can be sweet as well. Darkrai never had anything to live or fight for and all this felt really warm internally. Is this what makes his trainer a boy that everyone wants to be around unlike him? Darkrai had no clue but wanted to find the answer to yet another question he could only ask of Ash.

XXXXX

"There it is! With our Pokémon!" Inside a cave, on the snow covered Route 217, were a Meowth and a Piplup, both trapped up to their necks in ice while being carried away by an unknown Pokémon that was hiding in the shadows but halted when that voice was heard, echoing along the cave walls. " **Flamethrower**!"

That same Pokémon had to try and dodge the stream of steady flames that heated up the icy cave and also thawed out the Piplup and Meowth. And it was all done by a familiar Monferno, to a few of course. "Wow! You look like a real fire type now bob!" Meowth, being the talking Meowth that he is, had to bring out but was silenced by a stare and glare from the Playful Pokémon; no doubt that he didn't want to take anything from a Meowth with a dirty record as…well Meowth.

"Piplup! You are okay!" Dawn then appeared along with Ash, Brock and surprisingly, Team Rocket. When she saw that the Flamethrower had finally shed some light on the mysterious kidnapper, literally, Dawn took out her Pokédex to scan it.

 **{Froslass, the Snow Land Pokémon and an evolved form of Snorunt. It freezes its opponents to temperatures nearly minus sixty degrees.}**

Froslass is a humanoid Pokémon with a hollow torso that resembles a kimono. It wears a red band around its waist, reminiscent of an Obi. Its body lacks feet and it floats in the air like its counterpart, Glalie. Its arms are connected to the sides of its head, and flare at the wrists. The flared portion has dappled, light blue coloration. Its hands consist of three small fingers. Froslass's head is shaped similar to a sideways water droplet, and is topped with two ice crystals that resemble horns. Its head has several holes on it, resembling a mask. Through two of these holes, crystal blue eyes with yellow sclera can be seen. It also has a mouth below this "mask".

Froslass lives in snowy areas and has the ability to freeze foes with its -58 degrees Fahrenheit breath. It is thought to display its victims secretly after freezing them. As evidenced in the anime, it can create illusions to manipulate others. Froslass is a female only species, and is said in legends to be the spirit of a woman who was lost in the mountains.

Also, according to the Sinnoh Pokédex, only female Snorunt exposed to a Dawn Stone can evolve into Froslass. And Dawn Stones were originally discovered in the Sinnoh Region. That was why Glalie was thought to be the only evolution to Snorunt. It is another piece of proof that Sinnoh had caused more Pokémon discoveries than any other region so far.

"So this is the Pokémon who dared tried to freeze us to death in that blizzard eh?" Ash said, brief and to the point. Both he, the gang and Team Rocket got lost in the blizzard and thought to have found a cabin and a hot spring to help with the cold. But it was all faked by this Pokémon and kidnapped both Dawn's Piplup and Team Rocket's Meowth in order to get both parties to chase after her. "So let's get to why you wanted us to chase after you, shall we?"

Ash said with not only his Monferno and Pikachu staring with a sadistic smirk but somehow, his Gliscor and Staravia were also doing the same. The former two, Froslass can get away with but the latter two all have a disadvantage against her typing and yet Froslass was intimidated by them. And so, later,

"What!? A poacher!?" Ash suddenly shouted while listening to the wild Froslass. "A poacher had stolen your friend!? Is that why you wanted us to follow you and you had to kidnap our Pokémon to get our attention?"

Froslass nodded with a sigh of relief and disappointment because she didn't realize somehow that she could have asked Meowth to tell the story instead of struggling to give the message in her own tongue to the trainers and Pokémon present. Also, she realized that she actually went a little extreme in her attempt to get help so she bowed her head in attempt for forgiveness.

Ash just wanted to get this all over with because not a single soul was enjoying this development as much as he is. So, after a good hour of searching from point zero that was the home of both the wild Froslass and her friend, they had come across a sight that was out of place in the blizzard and that meant something to look into. And they had no idea who angry they were to witness the sight.

There, with a man and a giant floating Pokémon that realized merely a chuck of ice with a hockey mask attached to, was the Snorunt that was the friend of Froslass that really got kidnapped.

Snorunt is a small, black Pokémon with an ovoid body. It has circular, light blue eyes, wide teeth, and spherical hands and feet that lack digits. It is covered with a yellow cloak that gives it a triangular outline. The coat is rimmed with an orange stripe and has three orange diamond markings on the back. Well-adapted to life in colder climates, it subsists on snow and ice and can survive temperatures as low as -150 degrees Fahrenheit. Snorunt is also a social creature, living and traveling with other Snorunt in groups of five. It can be found in caves, particularly when the outside weather lacks snow. Additionally, it has been known to visit human dwellings.

"Hey that's a Glalie! That's the other evolution of Snorunt!" Ash pointed out yet another Pokémon that all except for Dawn were familiar with all the way back in Hoenn. Since this is the first time Dawn has ever encountered a Snorunt or a Glalie, she scanned it with her Pokédex.

 **{Snorunt, the Snow Hat Pokémon. Snorunt is said to bring great wealth to any home that it lives in.}**

 **{Glalie, the Face Pokémon and an evolved form of Snorunt. Glalie protects itself by creating ice armor from airborne moisture.}**

Glalie is a spherical Pokémon that consists of a black rock core covered by ice. The icy covering has several holes and spaces across this Pokémon's body. Blue eyes and a mouth with flat teeth are visible through three of these holes. There are two large, black, conical horns on either side of Glalie's head. Its icy body will not melt, and it can control ice by freezing moisture in the air. This ability is used to freeze its opponents, which it then consumes. It can be found in caves.

And this time, Team Rocket was actually pretty helpful with their own Pokémon against this Poacher and his Glalie. James used a Grass type native to Sinnoh named Carnivine with its **Vine Whip** and **Bullet Seed**.

Carnivine is a green Pokémon resembling a Venus flytrap. Its circular eyes have small pupils, and it has spiky teeth. Its stem is yellow with green spots, with red and green vines beneath with the appearance of tentacles. It can hang from tree branches using these vines, and it is said to look like a plant. It has two arms resembling leaves with three leafy 'fingers' each. Its mouth can open to about 180 degrees wide. With its mouth wide open, it attracts the prey it waits for with a sweet-smelling saliva, then chomps down. It takes a whole day to eat prey. It lives in forests and marshes. Its diet consists mostly of insects and small bugs.

And while Carnivine was having fund, Meowth surprised everyone by using **Fury Swipes** and **Slash** very effectively. Meanwhile, Ash's Monferno was using **Flamethrower** and **Mach Punch** to the advantage while Dawn's Piplup used **Bubble Beam** and **Peck**. All of these attacks have overwhelmed the Glalie and pretty soon, the local Officer Jenny had been given the poacher in ropes to be shipped away for his illegal activities. Meanwhile, Froslass and her friend waved goodbye and thanked the gang for the all the trouble they had went through to help them. And finally, Team Rocket just went up and fled while everyone's attention was on the poacher being sent to the slammer. But that wasn't to be the last of them for sure and the gang had realized that a long time ago before this day.

Of course, Darkrai saw just what lengths anyone will go for a friend. Wild Pokémon or not, trainer or not. Maybe the Pitch Black Pokémon will feel that way too and look at himself in the mirror as a Pokémon who has a friend and one that he will help in times of need.

XXXXX

"Hold it right there twerps!" Out came you know who out of the brush and in their most silly robot yet. One in which they were the pilot of a machine that was arms, torso and legs. But this didn't even make Ash chuckle.

"Pikachu, **Thunderbolt** now." Ash said and Pikachu didn't even utter a word before sending them off once again with its signature move. And for the rest of the day, Ash and the gang were never bothered by Team Rocket. All except for that one time with yet another robot but Ash could have sworn, after being sent blasting off, there were some arguing among Team Rocket and that Meowth was getting the brunt of it.

In spite of this, Ash decided not to try and get some more dirt on this. After all, they never even showed themselves since they broke their record for more than one attempt in a day. But Ash had a disturbing feeling when he could have sworn that someone was eavesdropping on them talking about a rare but wild Pokémon that was seen up in the mountains. Of course, given that it was a dangerous Pokémon, Ash and the gang wisely chose not to even try this out.

Unfortunately, it was not to be when Jessie and Meowth appeared looking troubled. They had a really bad falling out and when Meowth went to a Ramen Noodle restaurant to spend the rest of his days as a master cook and Jessie left to be a Coordinator for real, James foolishly went up to the face the dangerous Pokémon on his own. They asked of Ash and the gang to find James and settle this so that this dangerous Pokémon won't hurt anyone.

"So it was a Metagross after all." Ash said once they ran into James who had to have this dangerous Pokémon on his trail. No doubt angry at the blue haired man for trespassing and won't let him get away with it.

Dawn had first seen a Metagross from the tag battle tournament in Hearthome City but that one was a normal Metagross not one with different coloring.

The Metagross is a robotic Pokémon but with a silver instead of turquoise, disc-shaped body and four legs. The main body appears to serve as both head and body, and this Pokémon's overall construction gives it the appearance of a mechanized arachnid. It uses its heavy body to pin down its prey before consuming them with its large mouth. A large, metallic cross is situated in the center of its face. On either side of the cross, a red eye peers out from a space in Metagross's metallic armor. Its four legs are joined to the main body by ball-and-socket joints. While the upper portion of the legs is relatively thin, they are considerably thicker below the knee. Each leg has three short claws on the end and a flat, blunt protrusion extending over the knee. The legs can be tucked in, allowing Metagross to float in the air.

Metagross is the result of two Metang fusing together. This gives the Metagross a total of four brains, all connected by a complex network of neurons. Because of these complex connections and the number of brains, this Pokémon is capable of complex calculations and is more intelligent than a supercomputer. It uses its intelligence to analyze its opponents during battle. This Pokémon can be found on rough terrains.

While facing this Pokémon down, Jessie had her Seviper from Hoenn by her side.

Seviper is a serpentine Pokémon that is usually depicted scrunched up like an accordion. It is mostly black, but has several markings on its body. It has yellow hexagon markings that run from its head to its tail, small yellow bumps where it touches the ground, and various purple scar-like marks. It has elongated red fangs that protrude from its upper jaw and fierce red eyes. Its tail is partially red and has a blade-like shape. Seviper sharpens its tail on rocks, and can use it for its signature move, **Poison Tail**.

Seviper wraps around its opponents to make them unable to move. Its tail and fangs are venomous, and are used for striking and poisoning prey or enemies. It has been bitter enemies with Zangoose for many generations. It lives in grassy areas.

But Jessie had only made things worse by foolishly trying to order her Seviper to use **Poison Tail** on Metagross. After all, Metagross was not only a Psychic type Pokémon that has an advantage over Poison types but also a Steel who are immune to all Poison type moves. That was how Seviper was done in by a **Zen Headbutt** attack.

Before anyone else could try at this wild and angry Shiny Metagross, a familiar face appeared literally from the shadows and made the Metagross stop in its tracks. "Darkrai!" Everyone cried out while the Pitch Black Pokémon refused to lose his focus. Even in the face of a fake Legendary, one must never lower their guard.

Darkrai stared down the Shiny Metagross like when he did that to the wild Deoxys a few days ago. Darkrai had the advantage as his typing made him immune to all Psychic type attacks, ones that Metagross obviously tried to do but automatically failed at. So it tried for a glowing arm, usually known as **Hammer Arm** , but Darkrai had dodged it and used a Dark Pulse in retaliation.

That set off a fight to break each other's defenses and land one super effective hit to send them packing. But it was not to be when Meowth actually appeared and with a balloon to get them out of the jam! And with the arrival of the rescue Balloon had also caused Metagross to drop its guard and Darkrai was able to use the chance to land a damaging hit and put Metagross to sleep with its signature move before moving back to Ash.

Everyone was wondering why since Darkrai had gotten the chance to defeat Metagross but the Pitch Black Pokémon chose to flee instead. "Perhaps it is because Darkrai is more honorable than that." Ash theorized, much to everyone's initial confusion, that Darkrai wished for a more fair match in which this never happened and Metagross getting either a honorable loss or victory. And none of those can happen if something had forced the Iron Leg Pokémon to drop its guard like that. Honor is a complicated thing that can be confusing and unbearable at the times for sure but at least it is something that Darkrai feels like he could, personally, sleep at night now that he had done something to fully respect the wild Pokémon.

XXXXX

"And there it is!" Steveland, yet another friend that Ash and the gang had made on their Sinnoh Journey, shouted in excitement at the sight of a tournament in the works and was about to start. "The PokéRinger competition today in our windy town of Squallville! We just made it!"

"Calm down Steveland, we will get there in time and I can't wait to see you compete with your Pokémon." Ash said with a smirk and tone of a friend watching the amusing antics of another, like it was a good laugh to share and experience that bonded the two friends together.

"Right!" And just like that, Steveland regained his focus in order to follow after the gang who managed to get into line to sign up. They had just got some of the last tickets in stock and while Ash and Steveland go to do one last review of their tactics, Dawn and Brock took Pikachu and Piplup to the audience where they will watch the competition unfold.

At the tournament, among Ash's Staravia, were other trainers and they all had different flying type Pokémon. Examples included not only Steveland's Skiploom but Fearow, Noctowl, Swellow, Wingull, Skarmory and Swablu. There was also this suspicious trainer with a familiar Yanmega but Ash and Steveland paid it no mind.

That was how both of them managed to pass their first round abut Steveland couldn't make it past the second like Ash did. So the ambitious trainer wished Ash all the luck in the world to win this. And Ash was not going to disappoint him.

But then there was yet another Pokémon competitor and can cause some unfriendly and unhealthy competition. It was Paul's Honchkrow, the one that he evolved ever since he dared tried to use a Murkrow against the signature Pokémon of the Sinnoh Regional Champion.

Honchkrow is a dark-blue avian Pokémon with plumage resembling a person dressed in formal attire. It has a large feather crest resembling a fedora hat that has spikes extending from the back. It has circular red eyes with white sclera and dark blue eyelids. Its yellow beak is slightly curved, and its head is supported by a broad, short neck. Honchkrow has a white and prominent crest of feathers on its chest that bears resemblance to a beard or cravat. Its wings have red feathers on the inside. Honchkrow has black feet with four toes. The tail's base is a white, cylindrical stalk, on which there is a growth of red feathers on the end. Honchkrow is known to be ruthless. With a mere cry, it can summon and organize flocks of Murkrow in this manner, and is known as the "summoner of the night" by the pitch black darkness that often accompany such a spectacle.

It is said that a Honchkrow will never forgive the mistakes of the Murkrow that follow it. These flocks have been seen flying at night. The purpose of the flocks is unclear, but they are known to collect food for the Honchkrow that organized them. Honchkrow normally spends the daytime hours tending to its feathers in solitude. It is a scavenger that lives in swamps, forests, human towns and cities, and plains.

All this was proven when Honchkrow refused to back down in the face of a Dragonite, a Pokémon who are a select few that are the closet to the power of a Legendary Pokémon. It was because this Honchkrow had finally showed its ability, Super Luck. It allows a Pokémon land critical hits very easily compared to Pokémon without it. That was how Honchkrow's Sky Attack was able to not only finish off the Dragonite but also win Paul the round. And to think that this Dragonite was trained by a four year champion.

All this tension stayed in the air and affected every remaining trainer until it was time for the final round, winner will take all. And it was Ash…against Paul! And after seeing how well Paul had been winning as well as Ash, it could be anyone's victory but there was also how passive and sadistic Paul's tactics were along with how his Pokémon fought for the ring.

And it was like for the entire match and it was like Staravia couldn't keep up with the fully evolved Honchkrow for long and was eventually floored, literally. But when Staravia fell to the ground with the ring still in his mouth, something amazing happened as soon as the Starling Pokémon started to glow a bright blue, almost as bright as the yellow of the Sun.

"Could it be?" Ash said since he saw his Pokémon evolving and he knew what Pokémon his Staravia is going to become. So he took out his Pokédex as soon as that happened.

 **{Staraptor, the Predator Pokémon. Staraptor has an aggressive temperament and will bravely attack enemies that are far bigger than itself.}**

Staraptor is a grayish-brown, avian Pokémon similar to a large bird of prey. It has small, red eyes and a thin, yellow beak with a black tip. There is a circular white patch on its forehead, which is smaller on the female. Larger white markings cover the front of its throat and chest, separated by a black ruff encircling the shoulders. A red-tipped, black crest extends over its head, nearly reaching the tip of its beak. Staraptor is fussy about the shape of this comb, which it uses to appear larger and frighten enemies. It has large wings, five black-tipped tail feathers, and yellow feet with black talons. Its powerful wing and leg muscles allow it fly effortlessly while carrying a small Pokémon. Upon evolution, this Pokémon leaves its flock to live alone. It can be highly aggressive, persistently attacking even larger foes in spite of illness or injury.

"Now let's see what you can do now Staraptor, use **Close Combat**!" For Honchkrow, it was all in an instant. Staraptor appeared before it and repeatedly kicks, pecks, and hits Honchkrow with his wings at a fast speed. "Now **Brave Bird**!" Staraptor ignored the lowering of his defenses, the side effect of using Close Combat, and got ready for the great but risky attack.

Staraptor pulls in its wings and dives down at the opponent like a missile, its body bursting into flames. Then, it pulls out its wings, its body becomes surrounded by a blue aura, and it slams into the opponent. When the glow fades, light blue sparks run up Staraptor's wings as it takes recoil damage. And since **Close Combat** was used beforehand, the damage was greater than usual but Staraptor wasn't going to fall do this development.

Not when Ash was counting on him and especially not when Honchkrow finally fell out of the sky to the sheer power of those two attacks. Staraptor simply swooped and snatched the ring from Honchkrow's mouth in order to place it on the goal. Ash had won the Sinnoh PokéRinger competition!

While Ash was weaved through the crowds that were congratulating on his victory, Darkrai noticed that Paul was scowling at the sight. When the passive trainer gruffly returned his Pokémon, he felt an unnatural chill up his spine. Paul then heard something out of a horror,

 _"You are the one that doubts my master. Doubts his beliefs, his methods and his way of enjoying life. I can't stop you from thinking that but I will not let you try and humiliate my new master all because you drag your personal beliefs in other people's business. I will force you to take in all the nightmares you ever witnessed in your short life, remember that."_

Paul then tried to turn and see who was doing this but only saw something of a shadow leaving his sight. Paul hurried to get a better look but failed to find who spoke to him. So he just continued on what he was doing but he will never have his passive and cool smirk for the rest of the day. And that was because Paul never found out what spoke to him or that it was a shadow that retreated into another, Ash's.

End of Chapter 6.

 ***I really put it all into this chapter along with the next because I wanted to make the deadline of midnight of New Year's Eve. That is one way to celebrate yet another completed year and the start of a new one altogether. I bet you all have your own fun way to celebrate all this; after all, it only happens once a year for a good reason.***


	7. Trust and Love Cannot Be Denied

Master of Bad Dreams

Trust and Love Cannot Be Denied

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

 _Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,_

 _While Ash was weaved through the crowds that were congratulating on his victory, Darkrai noticed that Paul was scowling at the sight. When the passive trainer gruffly returned his Pokémon, he felt an unnatural chill up his spine. Paul then heard something out of a horror,_

 _"You are the one that doubts my master. Doubts his beliefs, his methods and his way of enjoying life. I can't stop you from thinking that but I will not let you try and humiliate my new master all because you drag your personal beliefs in other people's business. I will force you to take in all the nightmares you ever witnessed in your short life, remember that."_

 _Paul then tried to turn and see who was doing this but only saw something of a shadow leaving his sight. Paul hurried to get a better look but failed to find who spoke to him. So he just continued on what he was doing but he will never have his passive and cool smirk for the rest of the day. And that was because Paul never found out what spoke to him or that it was a shadow that retreated into another, Ash's._

"…And that was how Darkrai helped Mamoswine save the day! They both were amazing!" Dawn was like an excited kid with the prefect memory of a tale and she was telling it to her friends who were amused by the sight around the campfire.

Ash was still glad and proud that Darkrai actually saw the difference then causing misery to others and staying on one's own compared to the great feeling of being there for people in need and using his powers to make people's days. And somehow, that entire story stuck to his mind like glue.

It was when Dawn tried to make sure Mamoswine actually listens to her. She saw that she made a lot of progress but that never means that Dawn can relax. After all, Mamoswine still has the one thing that makes him easily distracted and difficult to communicate with; his love of food. But while Dawn tried to think of a solution, she was taking her turn at restocking on water with the help of a fresh river. Piplup, Ambipom, and Pachirisu were all helping out their Trainer which could be said better about Mamoswine who was taking a nap under some tree shade instead of even trying to help.

And then everything changed that day when Dawn and her Pokémon were attacked. By an Aggron! Apparently, it is very territorial as it uses its might and size to mark any place as its territory and automatically take anyone on it as an intruder. Anyone could compare this type of behavior to a bully who loves the feeling of being above everyone else and controlling them through force and intimidation.

Regardless, this Aggron had caused Dawn to return her Pokémon in a hurry but cut her off when she tried to do the same with Mamoswine. All this mayhem had caused Dawn to lose Mamoswine's Pokéball and the said Pokémon to break its leg when Aggron caused them both to take a bad fall off a cliff. Dawn hurried to take care of Mamoswine but far away from any city and without the Pokéball to carry Mamoswine, Dawn will have to do it the hard way and with crude materials found in the forest.

While Ash and Brock managed to fend off the Aggron, they still couldn't find Dawn and Dawn couldn't find them without accidently alerting the wild Aggron to where they are individually. This is a nightmare and they could only rely on luck to find each other.

Meanwhile, Dawn had to rely on the rest of her team to not only keep the wild Aggron off their tail but also Team Rocket. It seems that even after saving the gang from a wild, Shiny Metagross, they still couldn't help but steal Pokémon; they do say that 'old habits die hard'. But by the time Aggron and Team Rocket had gotten to the point in which Dawn couldn't do anymore to repel them, it was enough time to hear Mamoswine.

The Twin Tusk Pokémon was able to get on its injured leg enough to endure the attacks from the Aggron and avoid getting captured by Team Rocket. And all this was enough to safely alert Ash and the rest of the gang got where all this was happening. And just when Aggron was going to strike when no one was looking, it was hit by a familiar black sphere that sent him into a deep slumber. Then the Iron Armor Pokémon was lifted off the ground and sent flying back into the horizon where it hopefully not wake up early and try to hunt them down again. Otherwise, it will take it weeks to find the gang again. And that ended Dawn's fireplace story, one that she will never forget to tell her children and possibly grandchildren.

And after dealing with Team Rocket like always, Dawn noticed that Mamoswine wasn't eating like a pig like before and when it ate its full, the Twin Tusk Pokémon wanted to spend more time with the young coordinator instead of taking a nap all by himself. This went on until the sun went down and Dawn was glad to make some more progress on her Pokémon. Of course, she couldn't find Darkrai to thank him for the last minute effort that ultimately made all this happen.

What she didn't know was that Darkrai knew that she wanted to thank him so he did it in his own way. While that night, with Dawn sleeping, Darkrai will watch her and adsorb any nightmare that settles in her mind, using his powers as the Master of Bad Dreams.

XXXXX

"Okay let's review guys." Ash said with a tone of discomfort while a mysterious Pokémon was hugging like it wanted to squeeze to life out of this trainer. "First we were just training our Pokémon."

"Then we got blasted by **Icy Wind**." Brock added.

"And after Monferno thawed us out…" Dawn did the same.

"We were tripped with **Grass Knot** , tied up with **Ingrain** and then put to sleep with **Grass Whistle**. I guess that is what happened before we woke up to this…Pokémon around my waist." Ash finished and everyone nodded before Dawn decided to shed some light on this Pokémon with her Pokédex.

 **{Snover, the Frost Tree Pokémon. Snover live mainly on snowy mountains with little human contact, but are known to approach people out of curiosity.}**

Snover is a creature with a white upper body and brown lower body that resembles a snow-covered tree. It has green eyes and three points on top of its head. Its feet and green tail are stubby, and there are two green spikes that resemble pinecones on its back. Five cones form its hand: a large central cone with four smaller cones around it. Edible white berries grow along Snover's midsection. Snover lives on snowy peaks in warm seasons, but migrates lower as the weather cools. A curious Pokémon, it often approaches people and can be found inspecting footprints in the snow.

"It's cute though." Dawn remarked, not caring if the Snover heard her or not given that it was still embracing Ash like a long lost brother or something.

"You mean, he is cute." Ash said and the Snover finally released the former to nod frantically. Like a fan who heard his idol hit him right on the mark.

"How can you tell?" Dawn asked,

"Their torso is a big give away. A male Snover has only a third covered in snow while the rest is wood. A female Snover has it reverse; two thirds covered with while a third is still wood. Look it up." Ash explained and Dawn giggled that her Pokédex showed that there was a clear sign between male and female Snover.

"Anyways, why is this Snover here? I thought they prefer to live up in the mountains where it is always cold. Snover are Ice type Pokémon after all." Brock stated and Ash came up with something on his own.

"The Pokédex also says that Snover are Grass type Pokémon too. Maybe he is away from the mountain tops because of the forest and the grass fields like this one." Snover looked like Ash was only half right but not getting the complete point but that was all forgotten when, "Or maybe Snover wanted some friends." That got everyone's attention.

"Just how are you so sure?" Dawn asked and yet Ash didn't need to answer that directly when Snover hugged Ash all over again. "Never mind." She wisely said and found that the Snover was indeed lonely up in the mountains and went down to the forest in search of friends whatever Pokémon or human. That was why the gang decided to spend the rest of the day with the Frost Tree Pokémon.

But they do say that 'evil doesn't sleep' and neither did…Team Rocket. They saw that unlike most Snover, this male one had been sprouting berries which are so rare that one can buy a considerable car with only a handful of the berries. That was why they stole this lonely Snover while the gang were sleeping. But what they didn't count on was that Ash's Grotle had made quick friends with this Snover and that was why the Grove Pokémon was out of his Pokéball; all this allowed Grotle to wake up just in time to stop Team Rocket and rescue the lonely Snover but when they both dropped their guard, Team Rocket started to play dirty.

While Ash's Grotle was guiding Snover back to the others during the break of dawn, the Grove Pokémon noticed that various berries and nuts got caught in the twin bush-like trees while both of them trudged through the forest. That caused some friendly, wild and hungry Pokémon like Swablu, Starly and Kricketot. Snover loved the scene and even shared some of his berries which some additional wild Pokémon enjoyed as well. But all this had alerted Team Rocket to their location and they blew away the wild Pokémon in order to get the drop on both Ash's Grotle and the lonely Snover.

This noise had woke up every Pokémon in the forest and alerted Ash and the gang from their location. They too saw that Grotle and Snover were missing and caught both Pokémon in a cage being carried off by Team Rocket! They immediately sprang into action, hoping to get a better look to minimize the risk of destroying the hot air balloon and not endanger any lives because of it.

Thankfully, Ash's Grotle pulled through by making a hole in the cage and jumped out so that Snover can safely follow. And speaking of whom, it was because of Snover's **Ingrain** that Grotle actually avoided the worse of the fall from high up in the air and onto a mountain top. It was solid plan and but something went wrong and Snover was still trapped in the cage. What is more, Team Rocket was just moments from actually escaping once they cleared one last mountain cliff side.

This drove Ash's Grotle over the edge and recklessly tried to outrun Team Rocket until the mad Grove Pokémon had finally met the cliff side that the Team Rocket balloon started to ascend upward. The Pokémon thieves though that they had this in the bag until Ash's Grotle actually started to climb up the cliff side. Grotle had learned **Rock Climb** on the fly and that allowed the Grove Pokémon to reach the cage again but this side, releasing it along with Snover from the balloon.

Ash and the gang had seen it all happen and were about to release their own Pokémon to break both Ash's Grotle's and Snover's fall until a familiar pink glow outlined them both and lowered them at a much safer rate. Everyone but Snover knew who ultimately saved the day but didn't bother to try and drag out the one who prefers to watch from within the shadows.

And the day ended when a school teacher and her class appeared out of nowhere to give Ash and the gang directions to Ash's next Gym Battle and Dawn's next Pokémon Contest. But the biggest package was that the class of young children, under ten, that played with the lonely Snover and called him their friend. That ended Snover's lonely days for sure as the Frost Tree Pokémon and his new friends waved goodbye and good luck to the gang; of course, Snover puzzled everyone by waving at Ash's shadow who, everyone could have sworn to see, waved back briefly.

XXXXX

It was a nice spring day and Dawn's next contest is coming soon but there is just one thing wrong. Piplup. "Are you okay?" Dawn said in a panicked tone to see that Piplup was seeming sick and without any strength to get off from the ground and that the Penguin Pokémon was shaking and covered in sweat.

Then Piplup started to glow, like when a Pokémon evolves but something is not right about this. Piplup is using **Bide** and that is one way for a Pokémon to resist an evolution. So why is Piplup doing such a thing?

Dawn just won't have it and tried to have Piplup stop using Bide until Piplup stopped glowing but also ran away from her! After getting the others who were packing up, she told what was going on so Ash and Brock offered to help find Piplup since the Penguin Pokémon disappeared in the forest.

It took a few hours to search the entire forest and Piplup was indeed somewhere there, covered in spider webs. This day just wasn't his day. First Dawn didn't approve, only scold him on resisting evolution. Then Piplup ran into some Ariados and they tried to eat him in their webs but it was only after that second time resisting evolution that got him free to escape. Now, Piplup is hungry, lost, tired and covered in sticky webbing. And it is hard to think of anything worse to come but instead,

"There you are Piplup." The Penguin Pokémon felt a sudden chill up his spine and saw Ash staring down on him. "We all have been worried about you." Ash said in a comforting tone but Piplup was still mad from what is going on and tried to reject Ash's advances but failed. "I am not here to scold you Piplup, I am here to give you this from Nurse Joy."

Piplup turned to see a gray stone in Ash's hands and he was too tired to try and stop Ash from attaching it to his chest, but he never imagined that the evolution had suddenly canceled out. "This is called an Everstone. Any Pokémon that can still evolve never will once they hold it and continue to do so."

Piplup was amazed that this stone was the solution to all his problems. And it was Ash who have given him it. Piplup wanted to know why because Dawn and Brock had proven to be against the idea of Piplup never evolving.

"Piplup, I have seen this before and I understand why you don't want to evolve. It is because of Kenny and his Prinplup. Am I right?" Piplup was shocked, that was right on the money. Ever since Piplup saw that Kenny's Prinplup was no different than a bully, the Penguin Pokémon will have nightmares for a week from that day about how he will be just like that if Piplup actually evolved in a Prinplup himself.

"My Pikachu has the same reason to not wanting to evolve via a Thunderstone. Because, in Kanto, there is a Gym Leader named Lt. Surge and his signature Raichu. That Pokémon was a bully as well and that left a bad impression I am afraid that will last for a lifetime." Ash said in a tone of an old man gazing into the past to share stories with his grandchildren. "And every other Pokémon I ever caught and possibly will catch in the future will also see something about themselves that they will not like. That is why they will refuse to fully evolve, because they are just fine the way they are and change will ruin it all, forever."

Piplup nodded. A Pokémon's evolution is permanent, it can't be undone if the Pokémon or trainer responsible for it doesn't like the result. To some, evolving Pokémon can be dramatically dangerous.

"Now let's go and tell Dawn on how wrong she was today. Are you okay with that Piplup?" Ash asked and a sudden hug from Piplup answered that clearly. And just like that, Ash was able to find their way out of the woods and back to the campsite where Dawn and Brock and the others were waiting very anxiously.

When Dawn tried to retrieve Piplup, the Penguin Pokémon rejected her advances and it was only with Ash's timely explanation did Dawn stop crying from heartbreak but from justified guilt. She was Piplup's trainer and yet she selfishly placed her rivalry in the place of Piplup's feelings about evolving.

It took a busload of apologizing in order to clear up Piplup's sour mood with Dawn. But by the time for bed, the two were the best of partners and again. And now Dawn can get a good night's sleep while thinking of how to make the best of Piplup's refusal to evolve. While Ash was sleeping in his bag right next to Dawn, his shadow looked over the young trainer and saw that she made a big mistake that could cost her best partner but Ash was there like always and prevented a disaster; all with nothing but his experience to fight it. He always thought that in order to fight, you will need power and talent instead of experience and words.

End of Chapter 7.

 ***For some of you who did watch the canon series, you will know that I skipped episode DP120 and that is because that episode is entirely flashbacks and I felt like it wasn't necessary for the story. So tell me what you think of it overall so I can spend the next year doing better.***


	8. The Ice City of Snowpoint

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

Master of Bad Dreams

The Ice City of Snowpoint

 _Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,_

 _It took a few hours to search the entire forest and Piplup was indeed somewhere there, covered in spider webs. This day just wasn't his day. First Dawn didn't approve, only scold him on resisting evolution. Then Piplup ran into some Ariados and they tried to eat him in their webs but it was only after that second time resisting evolution that got him free to escape. Now, Piplup is hungry, lost, tired and covered in sticky webbing. And it is hard to think of anything worse to come but instead,_

 _"There you are Piplup." The Penguin Pokémon felt a sudden chill up his spine and saw Ash staring down on him. "We all have been worried about you." Ash said in a comforting tone but Piplup was still mad from what is going on and tried to reject Ash's advances but failed. "I am not here to scold you Piplup, I am here to give you this from Nurse Joy."_

 _Piplup turned to see a gray stone in Ash's hands and he was too tired to try and stop Ash from attaching it to his chest, but he never imagined that the evolution had suddenly canceled out. "This is called an Everstone. Any Pokémon that can still evolve never will once they hold it and continue to do so."_

 _Piplup was amazed that this stone was the solution to all his problems. And it was Ash who have given him it. Piplup wanted to know why because Dawn and Brock had proven to be against the idea of Piplup never evolving._

 _"Piplup, I have seen this before and I understand why you don't want to evolve. It is because of Kenny and his Prinplup. Am I right?" Piplup was shocked, that was right on the money. Ever since Piplup saw that Kenny's Prinplup was no different than a bully, the Penguin Pokémon will have nightmares for a week from that day about how he will be just like that if Piplup actually evolved in a Prinplup himself._

 _"My Pikachu has the same reason to not wanting to evolve via a Thunderstone. Because, in Kanto, there is a Gym Leader named Lt. Surge and his signature Raichu. That Pokémon was a bully as well and that left a bad impression I am afraid that will last for a lifetime." Ash said in a tone of an old man gazing into the past to share stories with his grandchildren. "And every other Pokémon I ever caught and possibly will catch in the future will also see something about themselves that they will not like. That is why they will refuse to fully evolve, because they are just fine the way they are and change will ruin it all, forever."_

 _Piplup nodded. A Pokémon's evolution is permanent, it can't be undone if the Pokémon or trainer responsible for it doesn't like the result. To some, evolving Pokémon can be dramatically dangerous._

 _"Now let's go and tell Dawn on how wrong she was today. Are you okay with that Piplup?" Ash asked and a sudden hug from Piplup answered that clearly. And just like that, Ash was able to find their way out of the woods and back to the campsite where Dawn and Brock and the others were waiting very anxiously._

 _When Dawn tried to retrieve Piplup, the Penguin Pokémon rejected her advances and it was only with Ash's timely explanation did Dawn stop crying from heartbreak but from justified guilt. She was Piplup's trainer and yet she selfishly placed her rivalry in the place of Piplup's feelings about evolving._

 _It took a busload of apologizing in order to clear up Piplup's sour mood with Dawn. But by the time for bed, the two were the best of partners and again. And now Dawn can get a good night's sleep while thinking of how to make the best of Piplup's refusal to evolve. While Ash was sleeping in his bag right next to Dawn, his shadow looked over the young trainer and saw that she made a big mistake that could cost her best partner but Ash was there like always and prevented a disaster; all with nothing but his experience to fight it. He always thought that in order to fight, you will need power and talent instead of experience and words._

"I can't believe that Ambipom is no longer with us!" Dawn still found it hard to take that she had to give up one of her most prized Pokémon after that Pokémon Ping-Pong Tournament in Sandalstraw Town. But her friends had been trying to get her over it and also help her get back on track for her next contest. It didn't help that Kenny had gotten her down at the Sandalstraw Contest and it was him that told her that she should have been practicing more.

And when they tried at the tournament, the trainers had fun against experienced trainer and competitors until Ash dropped out to give Dawn a better standing chance. That was when Dawn and her Ambipom went against a Trainer simply called 'O' and his Pokémon partner, Shiftry.

Shiftry is a large, brown bipedal Pokémon. It has a long, shaggy, white mane that covers most of its face. It has long ears, a long pointed nose, and a large mouth with teeth that are usually gritted. Its eyes are opaque yellow with black sclera and pupils. It has three broad leaves with brown spokes on its hands, which it uses to create powerful winds. These winds can move close to 100 feet per second in speed. A female will have smaller leaves than a male. Its feet resemble Japanese tengu-geta.

Shiftry can read an opponent's mind, and then take preemptive action. It is a wicked and mysterious Pokémon that lives in deep forests. It arrives in chilly, wintry winds. People fear it and consider it the guardian of the forest.

And this Shiftry with its trainer was fierce combo, so much that while Dawn and Ambipom used all their skill, O still won the tournament. But instead of shoving this into her face, O asked to train Ambipom because Dawn gave him the best duel of all the tournament. O saw potential in Ambipom and asked to train her in Pokémon Ping-Pong over all. And that was the last Dawn or any of her friend ever saw of Ambipom.

"I am sure that Ambipom will want to do this Dawn. You should be happy that Ambipom had found something she loved." Ash said facing her, "Will you want her to be happy or yourself to be happy?" Now that question had a real sharp edge and it got everyone nearby, trainer or Pokémon, to flinch.

Dawn, of course, had it harder. She felt like she was just about to force Ambipom to go back to here for the sake of her own happiness while forsaking Ambipom of her happiness. That was a cruel and cold statement for sure. And speaking of cold, it is going to that way for a little while as they approach Snowpoint City, far to the north of the Sinnoh Region.

That is why they made a wardrobe change until they go more south and then east of Sinnoh. Ash and Brock have kept their usual attire but added a blue sweater above their jacket. But Dawn changed the most; with a new, red, winter themed coat, white scarf, and white leg socks showing out of pink snow boots. Other than that, Dawn kept the hat from her usual attire. Overall, they looked just well suited for adventures as they get closer to Snowpoint City.

"Oh, what a cute Buneary!" And when the trio showed their new getups to their Pokémon, this new voice emerged from within the Pokémon Center. She looked like a trainer by the Pokéballs on her belt. She also had lime colored hair and a pink dress despite the weather. "And it is as cute as my own Pokémon!"

Before they could ask the trainer of her name, she sent out one of her Pokéballs and out of it came a new Pokémon for them all to see. But it definitely was a native in Sinnoh and the Pokédex checked out,

 **{Cherubi, the Cherry Pokémon. Cherubi's attached small ball holds the nutrients needed for its evolution.}**

Cherubi is a small cherry-like Pokémon with a round, deep-pink body with two stubby feet. It has beady eyes and a purple-red stripe running down part of its face. Cherubi has a short stem with two big, green leaves and a second, much smaller head growing out of it. This second head is vestigial in terms of function, but it contains nutrients that contribute to Cherubi's growth as its initial source of food. As the second head is apparently edible, several Pokémon have been seen trying to pluck it off. When the second head begins to bloom it means Cherubi is close to evolving. It has been known to sun bathe on warm days. When it is about to evolve, the second head starts to wilt. Cherubi mainly photosynthesizes, and it is attracted to honey.

And after the trainer begun to rant, she halted when Ash showed an expression of annoyance, complete with a hidden aura of surpass; one that was so hidden, only he and the other trainer were aware of it and it was so strong that it stopped the other trainer in her tracks. Ash calmly asked for her name and this time, he got it. She was Marilyn and a trainer/coordinator whose 'specialty' was cute and adorable Pokémon. Whatever they were fully evolved or not.

But when Marilyn resumed her rant on how adorable Dawn's Buneary was, the latter decided to share more with her Piplup. But something was up and Marilyn rejected the Piplup like it was the winner of the ugliest Pokémon contest or something. That didn't sit well with the Penguin Pokémon or his trainer one bit. So Dawn went up and challenged Marilyn to redeem her Pokémon's pride.

But the idea for an official duel went out the window due to a biased referee that happened to be a pest of a criminal that was sent flying like always. But thankfully for Dawn, it still counted since Piplup was matched a Pokémon of advantage to him; that was enough for the pride of the little water type Pokémon. Then again, there was Brock's insistence to be involved with all this, despite how Ash and Dawn told him that the business with Marilyn was over.

When the match between the two started, Marilyn sent out a Chingling against Brock's Croagunk. Chingling is a yellow, spherical Pokémon similar to a bell. It has stubby arms and legs, as well as beady, black eyes. On either side of its mouth is a large, black spot. Inside its mouth is a red orb, which creates a ringing sound as the Pokémon moves. Additionally, the orb can be vibrated to create high frequency, long lasting cries to deafen its opponents. The sounds produced can be too high for people to hear. Atop its body is ring-like growth with a striped rope through the middle. The rope is red-and-white with short tassels on the ends.

And since it was a physic type, going against a poison and fighting type, Chingling has the advantage but still lost. But before they could continue, the same thieves had arrived to try at it again. And then Marilyn then shown the Pokémon she thought was the cutest. But when Ash and the gang saw it for themselves they found it hard to believe that she considered a Shellder to be the cutest.

Shellder is a black pearl-like Pokémon encased within a spiky, blue-violet bivalve shell. It has two round white eyes with tiny black pupils. It has an enormously long red tongue, which it uses to burrow itself into sand and to lure and capture prey. Its body is known to be soft and tender; however, its shell is said to be harder than diamond. Prehistoric Shellder were apparently preyed upon by Omastar. Once ensnared by Omastar's tentacles, its hard shell stood no match to the Spiral Pokémon's deadly powerful bite, and its soft insides quickly devoured.

Shellder can develop a symbiotic relationship with Slowpoke. After attaching itself to the Dopey Pokémon's tail, the two undergo a metamorphosis and together evolve into Slowbro. If it attaches to the head of a Slowpoke in possession of a King's Rock, the two will instead evolve into Slowking. These relationships allow it to travel onto land and obtain a new stage in its life cycle.

Regardless of which form the two Pokémon evolve into, Shellder's shell transforms into a spiny, spiraled cone with several tiers. Sharp teeth develop around the rim of the shell to anchor it securely to the evolved Slowpoke, and its eyes now peek out from the bottom rim of the shell. In its crown form, Shellder will have a red jewel on its underside and a large horn on either side of its shell.

And when these thieves said that the Shellder was more hideous than cute, they were done in when they underestimated Shellder's **Ice Beam**. Even if the Shellder wasn't cute, it was powerful for such a small package. And with all that over, the gang said goodbye to Marilyn and went on their way to Snowpoint City like they intended to.

But not without Pikachu asking in his own tongue for Buneary to stay out of her Pokéball for a little while longer. It was something about how cute she looked to Pikachu now. The Rabbit Pokémon didn't mind and amused Ash for resting on his other shoulder to Pikachu.

XXXXX

And after a while of nothing exploding in their faces, Snowpoint City was finally there in the horizon. Even then, nothing happened all the way to entering the city. It was like any other but since snow fell continuous, it was on everything in sight. But the rest the snow isn't buried in snow was their heating systems that turned on when snow begins to build up. So it just has the bare maximum of snow to be safe as a city with a Pokémon Center and Pokémon gym.

But there was this last surprise, Joey was there to greet them! Joey, as in the friendly rival of Dawn that was nothing like any of Ash's rivals or any other to his friends. Joey was like Dawn's best friend and gave warm and welcoming advice like what to dress their Pokémon or what moves to use in contests. One last thing to note is that Joey states that she attended a Pokémon academy here with the Gym Leader ages ago.

And speaking of whom, they met the Gym Leader shortly after Joey, named Candice. She was indeed around Joey's age which was a great surprise that she was a Gym Leader. Her attire was a combo of white and grass green. Still, everyone was wondering how Candice looked so casual, wearing her green sweater around her waist in the outside cold.

Then they were introduced to Candice's signature Pokémon, Abomasnow, which was the evolved form of Snover and is a grass/ice type Pokémon as well. The Pokédex entry said like so,

 **{Abomasnow, the Frost Tree Pokémon and the evolved form of Snover. Abomasnow appear when snow flowers bloom and return to places unknown when the petals fall.}**

Abomasnow is a large, bipedal creature covered in shaggy, white fur. It has pale purple eyes with bushy eyebrows and long strands of fur covering its mouth. Two tufts of longer fur grow on both its back and chest, with the chest fur being longer on the female. Its hands, feet, and tail are dark green and spiky, similar to the foliage of an evergreen tree. On its back are four green spikes that resemble pinecones. Abomasnow lives in snowy mountains and appears only when snow flowers bloom. Once the flowers die, it retreats to isolated areas. It is able to create blizzards to hide itself.

As impressive as it seems about Candice, she said that it is time for a Pokémon quiz for trainers of all ages so Candice can't have a gym battle just yet. "That's fine. This quiz can help us kill some time." Ash said and his friends agreed, a quiz was much more fun than just lying around and otherwise doing nothing else.

The quiz was a quick-fire one with students that have a Pokémon of their own as a partner. Ash had an easy pick and so did Dawn. Joey and Brock decided to instead watch the quiz so they didn't come with a Pokémon partner. But both Ash and Brock were curious about a bluenette that had a Mime. Jr. that looked familiar; they had this feeling before so they made sure to keep a close eye on this encounter.

And when they entered the classroom, they met Jeremiah. He was a business man but also well on his way to be an expert on anything Pokémon-related. Jeremiah had a Pokémon that was new to Ash and Dawn so the former took out his Pokédex to scan it.

 **{Skuntank, the Skunk Pokémon and the evolved form of Stunky. It sprays a horrible smelling liquid from the tip of its tail.}**

Skuntank is a medium-sized mammalian Pokémon that resembles a skunk. It has purple, spiky fur with several tan stripes. The whiskers present on its pre-evolution have since vanished or have been replaced by furry purple tufts on the sides of Skuntank's face. Its legs are tan, and the tan coloration of its underside now forms a spiky pattern. Skuntank is known for its noxious fluid which smells dreadful. It can spray this fluid over 160 feet, and the longer it allows the liquid to ferment within its body, the more powerful the smell. Unlike its pre-evolution and real-life skunks, Skuntank spray this from its tail tip instead of the base. Skuntank prefers to nest in large, prickly bushes in heavily wooded areas.

And then there were various other trainers with various other Pokémon for their own. Pokémon like Diglett, Baltoy, Stunky, Lickilicky, Cyndaquil, Abra, Chimchar, and Turtwig. They were all eager to do their best in this quiz.

Too bad, Ash wasn't as eager and only gave out an answer after Jeremiah had beat everyone else for the first three questions. That was because Ash was more interested in the curious 'student'. And just when the quiz had finished its last question, the room was filled with gas that prevented anyone from finding each other or their Pokémon until they heard the cries of their partners moving out of the room!

It was Team Rock, making an easy steal. If only it was easy when they ran into Ash who somehow beat them outside the class room and pretty much the entire building. "But those Pokémon down." Ash said and when Team Rocket tried to gang up on him and taunt that he wasn't with his Pikachu until they saw it.

Ash's shadow had morphed and turned into a very familiar shape. That of a creature as black as the clear night with a scarf as white as the moon itself, its eyes looked like they were the stuff of nightmares. "I said…put them down." Team Rocket then knew that Darkrai, the one they angered in Canalave City, was now Ash's Pokémon; the boy can command the Pitch-Black Pokémon to deal with them easily. "Fine then. **Dark Void**."

Before Team Rocket could move a muscle, Darkrai itself came from Ash's shadow and engulfed them all, trainer and Pokémon, in a dark sphere that sent them into a deep sleep. A sleep that was plagued with nightmares. Meanwhile, Ash was releasing the Pokémon that were trapped in their Pokéballs, with his Pikachu excluded as he was in a rubber net unlike the rest.

By then, all the trainers were able to recover their Pokémon, Candice as well. Class was dismissed early so everyone thanked Ash for saving their Pokémon. Even Jeremiah, a trainer that made the others seem clueless amateurs, thanked Ash and said that the boy was a good trainer is his own right.

"You are a great trainer. I will be glad to have a gym battle with you Ash." Candice said when every other trainer than Ash and friends left for their homes. "Just let me know when you are ready."

"Okay Candice. I will be by the gym soon." Ash said and left with his friends to do some last minute training for this gym battle, it is going to be a blue cold one that will later turn red hot.

XXXXX

And Ash was right. Not even half a week since the attack of Team Rocket at the Pokémon Quiz session, Ash met Candice outside the building that the locals verified to be the Snowpoint City Gym. "Hello Candice. I am ready for my Pokémon Gym Battle."

"Very well Ash. This way to where we will battle." Candice pointed the direction into the Gym and showed Ash's friends where they will watch the battle live. And despite being a gym in Snowpoint City and featuring ice type Pokémon, it was rather comfortable inside and everyone was able to even take off their sweaters indoors. When everyone was placed and seated, the referee begun his announcement.

"The Snowpoint City Gym Battle of Gym Leader Candice against trainer from Pallet Town Ash Ketchum will now go under way. Will trainers please take out their first Pokémon?" He said and the trainers went like so,

"I will call on you first, Sneasel!" When it appeared, Ash briefly scanned Candice's first Pokémon.

 **{Sneasel, the Sharp Claw Pokémon. Sneasel scales trees by punching its hooked claws into bark. It seeks out unguarded nests and steals Eggs for food while its parents are away.}**

Sneasel is a bipedal Pokémon that resembles both cats and weasels. It is primarily bluish black with three bright red feathers for its tail and a single one on its left ear. The ear feather is shorter on the female than on the male. On its forehead and chest are yellow, oval markings. It has red eyes with black eyelash-like markings on the edges. Its feet and hands have two large, retractable claws each.

Sneasel is a notoriously vicious Pokémon, which is perfectly capable of using its claws to do substantial damage. The claws are also used for climbing trees in its forest home. Sneasel steals eggs from unattended Pidgey nests. Sneasel has been known to form pairs to hunt. One will lure the parents away from the nest, while the other steals the eggs.

"Nice. A Pokémon that is female like you Candice." Ash said and everyone thought he was just pointing out the obvious. Female Sneasel have a shorter red feather than male ones. "Now let's see if your Pokémon can match this one! Go Grotle!"

"Ash…" Candice muttered, "Why did you take out a Grass-type Pokémon? You know that Grass types are weak to ice type moves?"

"I don't see Grotle on the ground, defeated and unconscious. So what is your point? That my Pokémon doesn't stand a chance. We will just see once this match is over okay?" Ash retorted with a smirk and Grotle even chuckled along.

"Okay then, the battle has begun!" The referee announced and Candice took the first move.

"Sneasel, use **Icy Wind** on the floor!" The Sharp Claw Pokémon did as she was told, turning the dirt into something of an ice rink. Thankfully, Grotle knew enough to left his front and then his rear legs off the ground or otherwise, they will all be frozen stiff right when the match just started. "Now move in to use **Fury Swipes**!"

Ash smiled to see that Candice had this useful tactic in mind, Sneasel are much lighter than Pokémon like Grotle and this one was able to move on the ice like a pro skater. "Use **Withdraw**." Ash simply said and Grotle acted like an armadillo and reeled in his body so that Sneasel only hit the harder partners of his body. That was how the Sharp Claw Pokémon did barley anything. "Now **Razor Leaf** in all directions!"

Sneasel was fast but she was as surprised as her trainer then Grotle sent the move **Razor Leaf** into a vortex-like attack while still reeling in during **Withdraw**. The Sharp Claw Pokémon barely got out of the worst since she couldn't out run the otherwise swift grass type move. "Use **Icy Wind** on Grotle!"

" **Energy Ball** now!" As soon as Sneasel took in a deep breathe, to unleash some super-effective cold winds, Grotle canceled its **Withdraw** and created a sphere of grass type energy at Sneasel. And this caused a chain reaction and sent the Sharp Claw Pokémon sliding across the field. It was still covered in slippery ice after all. "Ready…" While Candice couldn't do a thing about this, Ash made his next command. **"Rock Climb!"**

Grotle raced towards Sneasel who was still helpless on the ice rink of a battlefield, causing the Sharp Claw Pokémon to be sent upward with a slop suddenly pressing against her belly. Meanwhile, Grotle ran up the slope and hit Sneasel hard. So hard that the Ice and Dark type fell to the ground and hadn't gotten up from her crater.

"Sneasel is unable to battle. Grotle wins!" The referee announced, "Will the Gym Leader please take out her next Pokémon?" Candice just returned her Sneasel and took out another Pokéball.

"I will now call on you, Medicham!"

 **{Medicham, the Meditate Pokémon. Through a combination of food deprivation and meditation, Medicham gains the ability to see its opponent's aura.}**

Medicham is a humanoid, bipedal Pokémon that resembles a yoga practitioner. It has a gray body with red and yellow adornments. A red headpiece with three bulb-like extensions covers the upper portion of its head: one on top and one on either side. The bulb on top is short on a female Medicham. Its large, focused eyes are slightly covered by the headpiece, and its red lips seem to be in a rounded or puckered position. Its legs appear to be covered with puffy, red pants that have a large yellow spot on the knees and yellow bands next to the hips.

Through the power of meditation and fasting, Medicham has developed a sixth sense. This allows it to use psychokinetic powers, and it heightens its energy to enhance this sixth sense. It battles with elegant, dance-like movements, which it uses to dodge attacks and launch devastating blows. It only eats once per month. It lives in fields and mountains. It will hide itself by using its powers to blend into its surroundings.

"A Medicham huh?" Ash said, remembering his last encounter with one. Back in Kanto after his try at the Pokémon League in the Hoenn Region. "One of the few Pokémon that can learn **Fire Punch** , **Ice Punch** and **Thunder Punch**. All in one package. So I may have a Pokémon that will give you a challenge." Ash said which meant when he returned his Grotle and let out, "Rotom, let's go!"

Candice was unlike Byron, who was shocked and then excited, she kept her calm. "That is a rare Pokémon Ash. You must run in all sorts of miracles or you just have an incredible streak of luck."

"Whatever. Rotom is my Pokémon and I am going to use against your Medicham. And don't think it is because I want to use a type immunity. Rotom doesn't have that in this form, but it prefect for this stage." Ash said and Rotom chirped out an agreement. It always looked to Ash and loved it when its trainer stood up for it. It is an amazing feeling when someone says that they want you for any purpose.

"Very well. The next stage of the Gym Battle, begins!" The referee said and this time, Candice gave the first move to Ash. A big mistake a few can say,

"Use **Shadow Ball**!" Ash commanded. One of the best things he loved about his Rotom is that it can still use its ghost type moves when in any other form than standard. And to cover up the lack of **S.T.A.B.** ( **S** ame **T** ype **A** ttack **B** onus), this move was super effective against a Pokémon like Medicham.

" **Fire Punch!"** Candice shouted out and when Medicham recovered from the super effective hit, she raced with flames engulfing her left fist. But when Medicham actually hit Rotom, the Plasma Pokémon barely budged.

" **Overheat."** That was a simple request, one that Rotom obeyed and initiated under a second. And Medicham was sent flying with burns and smoke on her bare body.

Back in the stands,

"So that's it! Ash is still a young but great trainer and this proves it!" Brook said with a voice that was of a man watching his little brother with pride. Dawn was still a rookie compared to the two so she was a little slow to catch on.

So Brook explained like so, "It is true that Pokémon Medicham can learn the three 'Elemental Punches' which have one of the three elements and the names end with the word 'Punch'. But for a Pokémon with Heat Rotom's typing, the electric typing can resist electric moves and the fir typing can resist fire and ice typing. So anyone of the three moves Ash labeled will barely do any damage." This made perfect sense to Dawn and she went to see more.

"I get it now Ash but we are no pushovers. So Medicham, use **Confusion**!" Candice called out for her physic and fighting type Pokémon to send a surge of psychic energy that not only damages the target but has a chance to confuse them, like the name says.

"Use **Thunderbolt**!" Ash told Rotom and the Plasma Pokémon shot out the electric type move with enough power to cancel out the **Confusion** attack. **"Discharge."** Now Ash called out for a wide spread attack that will be hard to dodge.

"Use **Psychic**!" Candice shouted out and Medicham had just gotten a psychic hold on the electric jolts that made up **Discharge** so not one managed to hit her.

" **Shock Wave!"** Candice widened her eyes, she was had and now Ash had gotten the drop on her. When the **Shock Wave** came too fast for Candice to counteract, the halted **Discharge** had finally hit its initial target. And if it wasn't bad enough for her that Medicham had gotten a lot of damage from those two electric attacks, Medicham was also frozen in place; paralyzed when the odds weren't in her favor. "Now use **Shadow Ball**."

When that super effective move came, Medicham didn't stand a chance. It fell down like a potato sack bumped to fall. "Medicham is unable to battle. Rotom wins! Now that the Gym Leader has only half her Pokémon left, will she release her third Pokémon?" Candice just rolled her eyes after hearing that same request and then sent out her next Pokémon.

"Come and blow us with a blizzard, Snover!" She released the very Pokémon was the pre-evolution of her signature Pokémon. No doubt that despite that, this Pokémon is going to be significantly stronger than the first two.

"Come out! Staraptor!" Ash then returned his Rotom and used the normal and flying type that he caught like the others at the start of journeys in a new region. Now this match up was a curious one because Snover can win with super-effective ice type moves or Staraptor can win with super-effective flying type moves; so any one of them can win on super-effective moves alone. But Candice is a Gym Leader, an ice type specialist, and Ash is no ordinary, run-of-the-mill trainer.

" **Razor Leaf** , Snover!"

" **Air Cutter** , Staraptor!"

Both trainers shouted out at once and when Snover sent a barrage of sharpen leaves and Staraptor stirred up some edged wind, leaves fell to the ground and the air settled down to a harmless breeze. Now both trainers stared at one and another, waiting for one of them to make the next move. And when that last leaf from Snover's move touched the ground with a faint *thud*,

 **"Ice Beam!"** Candice spoke first and Snover unleashed a beam of icy energy at Staraptor. And when it hit the Predator Pokémon's right wing, Ash commanded,

 **"Steel Wing."** Staraptor moved before the **Ice Beam** can freeze it completely, and landed its **Steel Wing** much harder with an ice cube for extra weight. And when Staraptor saw that the impact had shattered the ice on his wind, he flew back for some distance. **"Quick Attack."**

 **"Ice Beam!"** Candice tried again this time and hoped that Staraptor might not dodge this Ice Beam while moving as fast when using **Quick Attack** but,

"Keep it up and use **Double Team**." Ash said and when the Ice Beam was supposed to hit Staraptor, it instead went right through the Predator Pokémon like a ghost! And Staraptor landed that **Quick Attack** on Snover anyways.

"What the!?" Candice never seen that tactic or combo before. Not since she started as a Gym Leader.

"I used this back in Kanto Candice. With the speed from **Quick Attack** and the agility of **Double Team** , my Pokémon can move and dodge attacks with a blur and after images. I am glad to use this combo here in Sinnoh." Ash explained for the benefit of everyone listening. And for the benefit of himself so that this battle won't be so easy at least. And while Staraptor is moving so fast that only a blur of it can be seen, **"Close Combat."**

"Snover!" Candice called out while her ice and grass type suffered super-effective hits from every possible angle nonstop. "Use **Icy Wind** on yourself! Try it!" Snover could hear that call but she was still feeling afraid but tried to cover herself with **Icy Wind** and that actually caused Staraptor to halt his assault on Snover. "Good! Use **Ice Beam**!"

"Staraptor, finish with **Brave Bird**." Ash was still not stirring and neither was Staraptor who rushed, its body covered in blue energy. And it was able to dodge that **Ice Beam** with its agility from using **Double Team** beforehand.

 **"Bullet Seed!"** Candice knew that Snover will never survive that **Brave Bird** so at least she can try to stop Staraptor from hitting her Pokémon with the move. But it seems that the blue energy is flying type energy and **Bullet Seed** didn't even slow Staraptor down. "Snover!" Candice was out of time for moves like **Razor Leaf** or **Ice Beam** and Staraptor landed that double edged move on her third Pokémon. When the dust cleared, that same grass and ice type was not moving in her crater.

"Snover is unable to battle, Staraptor wins. It is time for the Gym Leader to take out her final Pokémon." The referee announced and Candice just sighed, returning her fallen Snover and sending out her fourth and last Pokémon. And that means, for anyone that knows Candice, it will be here signature Pokémon.

"Turn the tide, Abomasnow!" When Candice released her Abomasnow, it started to hail on account of the Frost Tree Pokémon's Snow Warning ability.

"You can no longer hold back and since you will fight with it all, so will I." Ash said and took out another Pokéball after returning his Staraptor. "Go, Monferno!"

The Playful Pokémon, in all its fiery glory, appeared on the battlefield and looked even more eager once it got the sight of the much larger and heavier Abomasnow. "Battle Begin!"

 **"Wood Hammer!"** Candice shouted out Abomasnow's strongest move, knowing that it is a double edged move like Ash's Staraptor's **Brave Bird**.

 **"Bulk Up."** Ash said, seeing that the **Wood Hammer** was as slow as Abomasnow so that gave him and his Monferno enough time to get ready. And when Monferno flexed his muscles, his attack power and defense rose significantly. "Now **Mach Punch**!"

Monferno ran with the power of his high-priory move that was enhanced by **Bulk Up**. And that was how the Playful Pokémon was able to meet and match Abomasnow's **Wood Hammer**. When the two were sent back from the wide spread impact, Monferno barely got any damage due to his type resistance and the effects of his **Bulk Up** ; Abomasnow was not so lucky. He received not only the recoil damage of **Wood Hammer** but the effects of the otherwise super-effective.

 **"Blizzard!"** Candice shouted, seeing an opportunity since Monferno is in close proximity with her Abomasnow. And she smiled to see that the **Blizzard** attack was able to land on Monferno and sent it flying.

 **"Flame Burst."** Ash said and Monferno was able to gather himself and send flames in the Kanji for 'fire' into the **Blizzard** attack and hit Abomasnow. "Go in for **Close Combat**."

 **"Ice Shard!"** Abomasnow struggled but managed to disperse the flames with the snow that have settled at her feet. And then created shards from pure ice and threw them at the approaching Monferno. The Playful Pokémon had to use **Close Combat** to dispel the attack. "Now go for an **Ice Punch**!" Candice knew that **Close Combat** causes the defense and special defense of the user to go down after use; perhaps **Ice Punch** might be stronger because of that fact.

But when Abomasnow was just about close enough to land the **Ice Punch** , **"Overheat!"** Monferno was able to land a power **Overheat** since Abomasnow had no way of avoiding it. "Now use **Flame Wheel**!" Ash shouted and Monferno go into a spin into the direction where Abomasnow was repelled by the **Overheat**.

 **"Wood Hammer!"** Candice knows that her Abomasnow can't take another fire type move so she is going for a last resort as it is risky to use a double edged move like **Wood Hammer** when the using Pokémon is down to its last legs and can past out when used. But when Abomasnow was about to land her **Wood Hammer** on Monferno and his **Flame Wheel** ,

"Combine it with **Mach Punch**!" Candice lost her voice to see Monferno hitting her Abomasnow with priority punches combined with the spinning movement of the **Flame Wheel**. And the **Flame Wheel** itself was causing its own damage as it is a super-effective move all by itself.

Monferno stopped when Abomasnow fell to the ground with a mighty *thud*. "Abomasnow is unable to battle! Monferno wins! Since the Gym Leader has no available Pokémon left, Ash Ketchum is the winner!"

Instead of returning Monferno to its Pokéball, Ash signaled the Playful Pokémon to his place on the challenger's side of the battlefield. Ignoring the cheering from the stands, Ash rubbed the hair on his Pokémon's head to Monferno's delight. That then they both raised their right arm in victory. Then Candice appeared,

"Please come this way, I have your Gym Badge outside and I want to do this to say goodbye and thank you for the good match." Ash nodded and still didn't return his Pokémon because Ash wanted Monferno to see the badge for itself. It was shaped like an iceberg or two icy mountains; either way, it was pretty and shiny to behold to both present trainer and Pokémon as Ash placed it on the seventh slot in his badge case.

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And while Ash was outside the gym with his friends and his latest gym badge, something was approaching near Snowpoint city. It was massive, its shadow was barely able to see completely and it was flying by some strange engines. It was something that never be found in Sinnoh or any other region for that matter but it is definitely something that Ash knows very well. And when it comes, a long-sought-out answer about a certain Sinnoh trainer will finally be shared.

End of Chapter 8.

 ***Hey everyone. This chapter was hard because I realized something. I have been making Ash and his Darkrai the main characters of the story. And there are plenty of episodes that have the other characters as the main focus so I had no choice but to cut them short. Otherwise, I will just be writing out something you all will prefer to watch. Now that is just boring and a waste of time.**


	9. The Master of the Pyramid

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

Master of Bad Dreams

The Master of the Pyramid

 _Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,_

 _And while Ash was leaving with his gym badge, something was approaching near Snowpoint city. It was massive, its shadow was barely able to see completely and it was flying by some strange engines. It was something that never be found in Sinnoh or any other region for that matter but it is definitely something that Ash knows very well. And when it comes, something about another certain trainer will finally be revealed._

And a week had passed since Ash's heated battle against Candice and the trainer had been training for something. His friends know that because Ash did make some calls at the Pokémon Center that very day, too long for a simple catching-up with his mom or Professor Oak. But they had to respect Ash's reasons for privacy because it will all come to light as soon as they dropped by to say one last fare well when they got a surprise visitor.

"Paul." Ash said with a slight edge to his tone while Pikachu shivered like an animal feeling danger through his fur. The trainer was unlike the others and was more like Gary from the Kanto and Johto Leagues; they both tried to make his life miserable in their own way. But Paul was a cruel and sadist trainer that cared only about power while Gary wished only to learn everything possible about Pokémon in every region he travels in.

The said trainer just gave him an indifferent nod and turned to someone of a more importance to him to speak. "You are Candice, the Gym Leader of Snowpoint?"

"Y-yes." Candice stuttered a little since she heard so much about Paul from Ash personally. The real thing is as scary as she imagined.

"I challenge you to a Gym Battle." He said brief and to the point.

"I-I am sure that you came a long way for this but I just had a Gym Battle which ended only moments ago. I need to rest my Pokémon up before taking another challenge. Maybe we can have it tomorrow?" Candice said honestly, hoping not to have Paul explode in her face for making him wait for a Gym Battle.

"Oh? And who was that loser that lost to you? Him?" Paul sneered with an arrogant tone. He really does try to get under Ash's skin but today will prove that Paul is out of practice and have lost his touch.

"Check it out Paul." Ash said calmly and took out his badge case to show Paul the badge of the Snowpoint City Gym that is shaped like an iceberg. Paul growled at how Ash has one more badge than him. Just how did Ash beat him here?

"So what? I am not impressed by a badge you won through pure luck. I am going to use real skill." Paul taunted but was internally confused that Ash barely even twitched an eyebrow.

"Whatever. You are spoiling our farewell with your presence." Ash said before he suddenly smirked. "But I guess that it is good that you are here…" His friends were wondering why he was making that remark, "Because your brother is also in the right place and the right time and with a passenger at that."

"Dawn!" When the group turned, they saw a van parked close to the entrance to Gym. But the one calling out for Dawn from the rear passenger's seat was a familiar face for sure.

"Joey! Reggie!" Dawn cried out while Brock was a little confused, Ash was smiling and Paul scoffed. "I see that you became friends!"

"Yeah, thanks to Ash's insistence." Joey said after she exited the van and then turned everyone's attention to the raven haired trainer with a Pikachu on his shoulder. "And you were right, Reggie is a great guy. He will make a good husband one day too~!"

Everyone saw that Paul's older brother, only related by hair color, blush at that last remark. "I am just glad that you both are doing well, Ash and Paul." The latter was scowling that his own older brother always listed his name last; which could mean that Reggie prefers Ash over him. "And you were right too, Joey is the model rival for Dawn." At that name of 'model' Joey found herself a little embarrassed. "They comment with each other but get along like good friends."

Joey didn't want to get any hotter under the collar. "A-anyways. Why did you call us to the entrance of the Gym? You said that something was going to happen and a…" Joey was interrupted when the earth slightly shook, nearly knocking everyone off their feet. Only Ash retained his balance and Brock barely was able to do the same.

Up in the air, everyone saw something they never imaged. It was like a standard sized building that is appropriately called a pyramid. But all corners in the base were extended somewhat in their respected directions and at the bottom of each of them were some kind of giant propellers; must be what is keeping them in the air.

"WHAT IS THAT!?" Dawn shouted in shock while clutching her Piplup a little too tight. It was hard to notice the Penguin Pokémon getting blue when its fur is already blue.

"That, Dawn, is the Battle Pyramid."

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"Ash, what do you mean by Battle Pyramid?" Dawn asked while everyone packed into Reggie's van; Candice preferred to use a Dodrio to get to where the flying pyramid was seen to have landed.

"I mean the Battle Pyramid from the Kanto Battle Frontier, Dawn. I tackled it when I returned to Kanto after the Hoenn League." Ash explained. "As for what the Battle Frontier is…" Dawn and Joey moved in to get a good hearing.

"Somewhat like Gyms, you have to battle against powerful and skilled Trainers with their own specialty in Pokémon Combat. They are called Frontier Brains and they don't give our badges if you win, you get symbols." Ash started and when his little audience was getting more and more interested as well as confused, he continued. "The purpose of getting six Frontier Symbols is that when you gather them all together, they act like a compass. A compass that always points to where the seventh and final Frontier Symbol is; within the Battle Pyramid. You win it by defeating the Pyramid King, Brandon."

"Wow, is Brandon strong?" Dawn asked since Ash did make this 'Pyramid King' seem like an extremely powerful trainer.

"I will say. I checked his profile out, only one trainer has ever defeated him when not a single one has done before or since." Ash said which got Dawn and Joey to let this mouths fall wide open. "And that trainer is…" After a moment of suspense. "Me."

For once, Paul spoke up. "You!? You defeated Brandon!?"

"To be fair, I was only able to do so when Brandon used his non-Legendary Pokémon as a special request. But I did have to go against his newly captured Pokémon of the time. I am not sure if I can still beat him." Ash said in an honest tone while Paul didn't say another word and settled back into the front passenger seat, next to his brother driving.

And no one spoke another word for the entire trip when Reggie explained that he tried for the Kanto Battle Frontier but failed to get the final symbol which apparently caused him to forget about Pokémon training and go to Pokémon breeding instead. Still, the sight of the amazing pyramid was enough to lighten up the situation for all except for Paul; the building must bring bad memories to the trainer.

"Ash. I have been hearing that you been taking Sinnoh by storm in the past few weeks. And that you survived against the might of a Legendary Pokémon." Brandon said with a chuckle and Ash couldn't help but smile along.

"Sure Brandon. It is very nice to meet you again. Is it the Snowpoint temple that caught your attention away from the Frontier?" Ash talked to the Pyramid King like longtime friends. And Brandon was the same.

"You got it kid. And you know that I can't resist passing on exploring ruins like temples." Brandon said until he noticed a certain trainer approaching him. "You are Reggie's younger brother Paul am I right?"

"Yes. I want to have a Pokémon battle here and now!" Paul demanded which got everyone's attention but the only ones not shocked or surprised were Brandon and Ash.

"I figured as much. Ash said it all when he contacted me a week ago from Snowpoint." Paul was now the one shocked and surprised. How did Ash know that Brandon was coming, a week before he arrived? Then he turned to anger; how dare Ash tell Brandon about him being the trainer he was. It seemed to be an insult since Ash had only seen the cruel side to Paul. "But since you were there before, I might as well accept this proposal. And since I will be here for a while, feel free to stop by for another match."

"There won't be another match! I will win against you, for the defeat you gave my brother that ended his path as a trainer!" Paul retorted and only grew redder when Brandon only chuckled.

"Heard it before, many times, kid. And feel free to use that arrogance in your match against me. I was hoping to not use my signature Pokémon but you called for them." Brandon said and Ash, along with Pikachu, could only shake their heads. Almost like they know Paul was doomed to lose and could only cast pity on him.

"I will take any Pokémon you throw at me and still win! You'll see!" Paul shouted while everyone present could only wonder the reason behind Ash's gesture at Paul.

XXXXX

"There is no need for a referee!" Paul shouted once he and Brandon were placed into their positons on the battlefield, with Paul as the challenger. "We will fight until all Pokémon on one side are unable to battle! We are allowed to switch out Pokémon if we choose to! That is the battle we will fight!"

Brandon sighed, Paul has already proven to be a handful. As if his clearly arrogant stance wasn't as obvious as the scowl on his face already. "Fine. If that is all then you will have the honors of drawing your first Pokémon! I will do mine after you!"

"Fine!" Paul sharply responded, like he was expecting more of Brandon. Meanwhile, in the stands, were Ash and his friends as the audience.

"So Reggie…" Ash said, without taking his eyes off of Paul. "How does it feel to watch your brother face against Brandon, not knowing what he got himself into?" That was a little cold but true and Reggie sighed.

"I have moved on that I let my defeat here force me to change from trainer to breeder but I never wanted Paul to do something like this." Reggie said honestly while Ash was indifferent as well as Pikachu.

'Paul. I am sorry but you are my rival so whatever happens, I can never take pity on you. All I can do is thank you for helping me prepare for my own match against Brandon after all this time. It is the only way for me to see how skilled of a trainer I really am.' Ash thought to himself, ending right when Paul released his first Pokémon.

"Magmar, standby for battle!" Paul called out his first Pokémon, the one that made him slightly similar to Gary.

Magmar is a bipedal Pokémon with a red body that has yellow flame designs on it. A row of red spikes runs down its back, and there are two lumps on its forehead with a flame on top of each one. It has a puckered, yellow beak and small eyes. Its thighs are yellow, and it has red feet with two, clawed toes each. Its arms are covered in rigid, red scales and it has red hands with five, clawed fingers. It has black, metal shackles on its neck and ankles. At the tips of its yellow tail is a flame.

Magmar's body temperature is nearly 2,200°F. It has been shown by their trainers that extremely well trained Magmar can have the ability to block Electric-type attacks with super-heated air. Because it hates cold places, this Pokémon typically resides in and around active volcanoes. This Pokémon has even been known to alter unfavorably cold surroundings by spitting scorching flames about to warm up the area and establish an environment more suitable to it.

Magmar is able to heal its wounds by dipping its wound into lava. In battle, it blows out intense flames from all over its body as to intimidate its foes and incinerate its surroundings. However, an outmatched Magmar will quickly retreat, using its fiery camouflage and its wavering, rippling glare to blend into any present fires.

But Brandon was not to flinch at the sight of such Pokémon and only reached for his Pokéball. "Regirock, I need your assistance!" Out came a titan made of pure rock indeed and Dawn found herself scanning it shortly after it appeared on the battlefield.

 **{Regirock, the Rock Peak Pokémon. Regirock's body is made of rock, and if something chips off in battle, it attaches rocks to repair itself.}**

Regirock is a large golem made of brown rocks. Regirock has an orange pattern on its face that resembles a capital letter "H". It has long arms with jutting shoulders and club-like hands, its legs are short in comparison to its body. There is a line of rocky spines running down its back. When it gets damaged in battle it will search for new rocks to repair itself. Because of this, the rocks it is made of come from several different places, which contributes to Regirock's patchwork appearance. Regirock does not seem to have a heart or brain. It generally lives in caves.

While this was looking cool to Dawn, her Piplup, Joey and Candice, everyone else were only slightly interested in the Rock Peak Pokémon. "So Brandon starts with Regirock. Just like he did with my brother." Paul said in an encrypted tone, like he was there when Reggie lost his battle.

Reggie had told everyone that indeed, he fought against Brandon during a time that Paul was a beginner trainer with only his initial starter, his Turtwig that will become his Torterra. And Reggie was described to use a Drapion against Brandon's Regirock until it was soundly defeated easily. And after Reggie lost utterly, Brandon scolded Paul's other brother for not fighting with his inner strength or found it yet. This has triggered something in Paul who wanted to know about his inner strength before turning his attention to his Turtwig before it scowled.

This was to be why Paul is obsessed with training his Pokémon to exceeded the standards and meet his own strict ones. This is why he didn't want common Pokémon and wanted only the 'strong born' ones. It was one way to train but a way that made Paul seem like a complete jerk that lusted for power and only cared about strong Pokémon.

"I will take anything you throw against me!" Brandon shouted. "Because that is my battling strategy and my inner strength." He added, to bring up bad memories for Paul and Reggie. But instead of calling out attacks,

"Magmar, return!" Paul suddenly said which surprised everyone. While his friends were wondering why he was returning so soon, Ash saw that Paul wanted to keep the type advantage and resistance rather than the disadvantage and weakness. "Hariyama, standby for battle!"

Dawn scanned this new Pokémon and the second one that Paul sent out,

 **{Hariyama, the Arm Thrust Pokémon. Hariyama can send a truck flying with its powerful Arm Thrusts.}**

Hariyama is a large, hulking, and mostly gray bipedal Pokémon that is modeled after sumo wrestlers. It has very large orange hands with three fingers. On its head, it has a pointed triangular crest and V-shaped marking of dark blue that runs across the tops of its eyes. This marking becomes a long blue ponytail in the back. On the sides of its head are round, stubby ears with visible holes in them. It has an orange, semicircular pattern on its abdomen. It has yellow skirt-like extensions on its waist and large, thick, dark blue legs with orange, two-toed feet. Its body is mostly muscle instead of fat.

When its body tenses, its muscles become as hard as stone. Its powerful arms can send a truck flying and break a telephone pole in two. It stomps on the ground to build power. Its signature move is **Smelling Salts** , and **Arm Thrust** is a former signature move. It likes to match power with big-bodied Pokémon. It is known to stand on train tracks and stop trains with its thrusts. It lives in mountainous areas.

Brandon actually gave the first attack by asking his Regirock to use **Stone Edge** that Paul wisely took his Hariyama to block it since fighting type Pokémon are type resistant to rock type moves. Paul then counter attacked by telling his Hariyama to use **Arm Thrust**.

When Hariyama landed hit after hit on Regirock, Brandon then told it to hold down the fighting Pokémon before using **Shock Wave**. This shocked everyone by how strong Regirock was even after the super effective **Arm Thrust** move. Ash made a note of it, 'Try not to get too close to Regirock and use distance attacks. And block its **Stone Edge**.'

" **Force Palm!"**

"Use **Focus Punch**!" Paul tried to go for more super-effective hits but that was his undoing when Regirock charged up his **Focus Punch** in record time, to dodge the **Force Palm** and land that powerful hit on Hariyama. The fighting type Pokémon couldn't take it and fainted.

Everyone was amazed that Regirock was able to win against a Pokémon with all the advantages to win. "That Regirock is just as tough as I remembered it." Pikachu agreed with him.

"Electabuzz, standby for battle!" Paul called out a very interesting choice for a rock type opponent. But that is what makes Paul like himself and that brings bad memories for Ash about Gary once again.

Electabuzz is a slightly humanoid creature with a few feline traits. It is covered in yellow fur with black stripes; a large stripe on its chest is shaped like a lightning bolt. It has a long tail. There are three, clawed toes on its feet; two in front and one in back, while it has five fingers on each hand. Electabuzz has two sharp fangs and a pair of antennae with bulbous ends. In the dark, Electabuzz will glow a light blue with the electrical charge stored inside of it.

Electabuzz is capable of storing huge amounts of electrical energy inside of its body over long periods. During torrential thunderstorms, Electabuzz will compete with one another to determine which is capable of attaining the highest ground, so as to be most likely struck by a bolt of lightning out of the sky. If struck, Electabuzz will absorb the electricity and will not be harmed. It is in this same manner that captured Electabuzz are sometimes used in small towns as an alternative to lightning rods.

It has been seen through experience that Electabuzz can be enraged by the color red. If this Pokémon sees the color red, it will become violent and raze the area around it like a bull. In battle, Electabuzz windmills its arms, apparently to add momentum to it punches. This method of battle seems ineffective, as its opponent has been known to escape in the meantime. It is also capable of entirely nonverbal communication via electrical currents when in close proximity to one another. Electabuzz typically resides in or around power plants, and can also be found in grasslands. It has been known to wander into cities and cause blackouts.

When Paul saw that Brandon was confused about his choice for his third Pokémon, he smirked and called out for his next move, **Brick Break**. And since that was a fighting type move, it done some considerable damage.

But it was when Brandon told his Regirock to use **Stone Edge** once again and Paul told his Electabuzz to use **Protect**. But while it blocked some of the stones, Electabuzz clearly couldn't keep up **Protect** as Regirock with its **Stone Edge** ; the Electric Pokémon had to feel the power of the larger stones (1). To finish off, Brandon had his Regirock use **Hyper Beam** on Electabuzz, finishing off the Electric Pokémon for good.

Then Brandon returned his Regirock after Paul did his Electabuzz, which was a very good move considering **Hyper Beam** is a powerful move with a powerfully negative side-effect; after using it, a Pokémon is immobile and open for attacks unless they are returned to their balls for a little while.

"Registeel, I need your assistance!" Brandon finally took out his second Pokémon while his first one was basically unharmed.

 **{Registeel, the Iron Pokémon. Because Registeel's body has been tempered by underground pressure for thousands of years, its body cannot be scratched.}**

The top-half of Registeel's body is spherical and gray with a black stripe running down its "face". Its face consists of seven red dots in a hexagonal formation. It has black arms with three fingers each and cylindrical legs. While Registeel has been classified as a Steel-type Pokémon, its body is actually made of a material that is harder than any known metal. However, this material stretches and shrinks despite its hardness. Its body was tempered by pressure underground over thousands of years, almost indestructible.

"Registeel huh?" Paul said before taking out his Magmar again, to the take this chance of a possible super-effective hit. And soon enough after he released Magmar, Paul commanded it to use **Flamethrower** which was a direct hit. But Brandon was not worried about it,

And soon enough, Registeel was able to disperse the fire around its body and show no effects. Reggie remarked on it and Ash said that he was able of it because he too tried to use a fire type against this Pokémon, Ash only got Registeel to be exhausted before losing. Then Brandon commanded it to use **Iron Head**.

And just when Paul was getting impressive, he foolishly told his Magmar to try and block the **Iron Head** and use **Will-o-Wisp**. But instead, Magmar was hit anyways and flinched instead of using **Will-o-Wisp** ; too bad that Paul didn't realize it so he had to return his Magmar

"Now Nidoking, standby for battle!" Paul released his fourth Pokémon and Dawn once again scanned it.

 **{Nidoking, the Drill Pokémon. One swing of its mighty tail can snap a telephone pole as if it were nothing but a matchstick.}**

Nidoking is a large, bipedal, purple Pokémon with distinct reptilian features. It has small, narrow eyes, large, spiny ears, with fur-like tufts on its cheeks, and a short snout filled with pointed teeth. There is a long, venomous horn on its forehead. It has a gray chest and belly plates, three claws on each hand, rounded spines on its elbows, and a single large nail on each foot. There is a ridge of long spines down its back, and it has a long, powerful tail. This is a male only species; the female counterpart is Nidoqueen.

It is said that Nidoking's tail is capable of toppling a metal transmission tower. Nidoking uses this tail to smash, constrict, or break the bones of its prey and enemies. The tail can be swung to create distance between it and its foes before Nidoking charges. Its steel-like hide adds to its powerful, rampaging charges. Nidoking lives in grasslands, rough terrain, and forests.

Dawn asked why Paul was using a poison type Pokémon against a steel type like Registeel. But Joey did saw that Nidoking was also a ground type so it can use an **S.T.A.B.** ( **S** ame **T** ype **A** ttack **B** onus) ground type move which is the real super-effective attack. Brandon didn't care and instead commanded his Registeel to use Flash Cannon.

Nidoking managed to hold it through for his trainer to ask for an **Earth Power** attack. That dealt some damage and Paul wanted more by commanding his Nidoking to use **Double Kick** which is also a super-effective move. And while that sent the Iron Pokémon back a little but it is still not going down.

"Now use **Thunderbolt**!"

"Use **Iron Head**!" What happened was something amazing and it was not from Paul. Brandon's Registeel was able to maintain its Iron Head while being covered by the lighting that was Nidoking's **Thunderbolt** ; one that was nothing the **Thunderbolt** that Ash's Pikachu can muster.

"Alright what's wrong?" Brandon said, not impressed at Paul's progress. "And here I thought you wanted to beat the man who defeated your brother."

Once Paul returned his Nidoking, he just placed it aside. "The truth is, it is only because you defeated Reggie that y victory over you will have meaning." He said in a tone that defined pure arrogance; thinking that he can still win with half his team unable to battle and Brandon only used two of his that haven't even fainted! "The challenge you give to trainers to find your inner strength, was something that my brother wasn't able to do!"

"But I am not like my brother!" Paul then had an edge in his tone. "My _will_ gives me strength! And now, you will see it firsthand!" Paul finished his egotistical speech which caused a scowl on Ash's face.

"Your _will_? To do what!?" Ash suddenly said that got everyone's attention. "You sound like you have been going to Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and now Sinnoh again, all for this!? You decided to become a trainer just to defeat one man!? That is not the way of the Pokémon Path! It never ends with a single match! It ends when you have a better reason to stop battling!"

"Yes!" Brandon shouted with a smile at Ash for his guts and his real inspiring speech. "Ash is right. You a trainer that is all hung up in the past. But why do you walk the Pokémon Path in the first place?" Brandon said; Paul had talked nothing for his actions, they contradict each other. "Tell me why do you battle!"

Instead of an answer, Paul growled of frustration and anger; both are emotions hard to muster and now, they have taken over his mindset, his ability to use the full advantage of his Pokémon and most importantly, blacken his will, to battle. "Now Lairon! Standby for battle!"

Out came Paul's fifth Pokémon and Dawn once again scanned it.

 **{Lairon, the Iron Armor Pokémon. It digs up iron ore for food, and smashes its steely body up against others in battles over territory.}**

Lairon is a stocky, armored, Pokémon with four short legs. Its body is dark gray, and its eyes are sky blue. Its back is covered with segments of iron armor, each with a high ridge and round dark holes on the sides. The sides of its lower jaw have several flat protrusions, and two teeth are visible in its mouth. There are two pronged metal bands on its legs. The upper band is gray and the lower is silver.

Lairon smashes its steely body against others in battle over territory, and shows off its strength with the size of sparks it creates by ramming into rocks. It drinks nutritious mineral spring water and feeds on iron contained in rocks. It builds its nest on mountains where iron ore is buried, which results in it clashing with humans that are iron mining.

"Regice, I need your assistance!"

Meanwhile, Ash was wondering why Dawn was scanning Brandon's third Pokémon so he did it instead.

 **{Regice, the Iceberg Pokémon. Its body is made of ice from the ice age. It controls frigid air of -328 degrees Fahrenheit.}**

Regice is composed of Antarctic ice that resembles a crystal. Its face has an unusual pattern consisting of seven yellow dots in a "+" formation. It has four spikes on its back. Its legs are conical and it balances its entire body on those two points. There are three fingers on each of its cylindrical arms. In the anime, Regice moves around by floating in the air. Regice cloaks itself in air that is -328 degrees Fahrenheit, and can survive submerged in molten lava and other extremely hot temperatures. Regice slept in a glacier for thousands of years.

 **"Iron Defense!"** Paul immediately went on defense and his audience acknowledge that but,

"I have fought against Regice before and Iron Defense will be barely of any help. I don't think that Lairon will be able to attack at all." Ash said, and he was right. Brandon told his Regice to use **Ice Beam** that caused, against the odds out of favor, Lairon to be frozen! With Paul unable to help, Brandon's Regice finished off Lairon with a **Zap Cannon** attack.

Paul growled for this humiliating defeat with only two attacks and reached for his sixth Pokémon. "Ursaring, standby for battle!" Paul sent out in his angered tone.

Ursaring is a bipedal, ursine Pokémon. Its broad body is covered in brown fur, except its muzzle, inner ears, and paw pads, which are a light tan. It has narrow eyes, a triangular, black nose, and wide mouth with small, visible fangs in the upper jaw. The fur on Ursaring's shoulders is longer and more structured, with rectangular extensions that resemble epaulettes. A female Ursaring has longer fur on its shoulders than a male. There is a large, tan, ring-shaped mark on its chest. Ursaring's forelimbs are long, ending in five claws each, while its hind legs are short and thick, ending in three claws each. Its tail is large and spherical in shape.

Ursaring lives in mountainous forests, sleeping in treetops and gathering food throughout the day. While it is skilled at climbing trees, it gathers food by snapping them and collecting whatever berries or fruits fall down. It will mark trees bearing delicious fruit in its territory with its claws. Ursaring's sense of smell can distinguish any aroma, and as such it can find food buried deep underground or in streams. Ursaring are highly protective of its young, and has been shown to become more aggressive during mating season.

"Use **Hammer Arm**!"

" **Focus Punch** now." Paul cried out a super effective hit while Brandon commanded one of his own. And both Pokémon met at the center of the battlefield, being sent back by the excess impact.

"Now use **Focus Blast**!" Paul commanded and it looked like Ursaring could use some more training as it was taking too long to use **Focus Blast**. And it was too late for any good use.

 **"Zap Cannon!"** Brandon's Regice formed its ball of electric energy in no time and landed on Ursaring, causing it to lose its Focus Blast and become paralyzed. But, back in the stands, Ash was not interested in Ursaring being paralyzed but Paul's reaction to it. Paul didn't do a thing but growl.

'Paul, you fool. You need to switch out while Brandon still has out his Regice. You are going to lose.' Ash thought and it seems that it was far too late because Brandon returned his Regice and sent out his Regirock. Ursaring could be of use if he wasn't paralyzed. And Paul could only complain until Brandon commanded his Regirock to use **Stone Edge** ; Ursaring was finally put out of its misery.

"So Paul decided to give up on his own Pokémon, throwing away any good chance he has. Now he is left with a fire type against the nearly unstoppable Regirock." Ash remarked and everyone else was starting to see what the trainer saw ahead, shortly before Paul's match with Brandon begun.

"Now **Flamethrower**!" Paul commanded of his Magmar, his remaining Pokémon, to use an attack that wasn't of very good use.

" **Shock Wave** , let's go now!" Brandon said before Regirock shot off a burst of electric energy rather than the close proximity attack like the first time. When Magmar was hit, he couldn't stand anymore. He fainted and thus, Paul lost. He lost for the first time in front of Ash's eyes since his own defeat at the hands of Cynthia and her signature Pokémon.

XXXXX

But everyone wasn't done with the Battle Pyramid just yet. Ash had actually challenged Brandon himself! And after all the trainers said about not actually being able to match him.

But unlike with Paul who asked for a full battle, Ash asked for a three-on-three battle with Brandon's trio of Legendary Golems against three of his own Pokémon. Brandon thought for a moment and said that a three-on-three battle shouldn't take as long as a full battle so he accepted it, saying that he needed to be somewhere but was in no rush.

And like before, there was no referee this time so the battle will go on until one side's Pokémon are all but defeated. "Let's begin, with **Stone Edge**! Go!" Brandon called out and Regirock released its **S.T.A.B.** move against Pikachu.

" **Counter Shield** with **Thunder**." Ash called out and his Pikachu dropped to the ground and spun on its back, sending electricity into all directions that were thicken once the **Stone Edge** meet the shield. Everyone was amazed to see it actually block Regirock's powerful move. "Release it towards Regirock, now!" Ash then called out and Pikachu suddenly used his momentum to send a thick ring of lightning towards the Rock Peak Pokémon.

"What's this?" Brandon said, wanting to see what is coming until his Regirock was then bounded by the ring of lightning and it showed signs of difficulty breaking it up! "Well, you sure have trained your Pikachu very well."

"You have seen nothing yet Brandon. Use **Thunder**." Pikachu then sent a gigantic thunderbolt, so bright that it was blinding. And Regirock cried out loudly when hit, showing how powerful that **Thunder** attack was. "Now move in with **Quick Attack** and then **Iron Tail**."

 **"Iron Defense."** Brandon said but then noticed that Regirock was twitching violently, like it was trying to move its body. And while it did managed to take in some of the damage from the momentum fueled **Iron Tail** , was still sent back a good distance; and it had to make trenches beneath its feet to stop itself. "Nice tactic but we are not helpless, use **Superpower**."

"Use **Thunder** to escape." Ash then said and when Regirock finally managed to free itself from the lightning bind, it was hit by another **S.T.A.B.** enhanced **Thunder** attack. And everyone saw, to their awe and surprise, Pikachu riding the **Thunder** attack to evade any impact from Regirock's **Superpower** attack.

"Very creative and something I expect only from a trainer like you Ash." Brandon said while Paul gritted his teeth from within the stands. It seemed that Ash was the one impressing Brandon, the Pyramid King, while his fight was more like an overconfident preschooler demanding a fight for fun. "Please show us. Regirock, use **Focus Punch**."

Everyone was holding their breath to see one of the most powerful fighting type moves there is and one that has proven to be unstoppable. Until of course, **"Grass Knot."** Ash simply said and Pikachu was able to not only stop Regirock, cancel out its **Focus Punch** but also did some damage to the very heavy Rock Peak Pokémon. "Now **Thunder**."

Before Regirock could get up from the crater it made in the field, the ground below had erupted in blinding lightning force, so bright that even Ash himself had to use his hat to cover his eyes. The audience figured out another reason Ash always wears his hat when battling with his Pikachu and another reason that he didn't want to lose it; so he can assure his Pokémon that he will not be blinded by any of Pikachu's electric type moves.

"Ash, I never thought that the day I will be focusing hard to beat you will come. And now Regirock!" Brandon said at his Pokémon, which was not only damaged but also paralyzed from the side effects of the **Thunder** attack while struggling to get its heavy and damaged boy from the battlefield. Like the Pokédex said, it usually uses rocks to repair itself but all of the rocks within range were outside the Battle Pyramid. **"Stone Edge!"**

Regirock showed how strong it was when it was able to fight through the paralysis to unleash its storm or rocks, albeit much slower as it was plainly obvious. "Pikachu, Battle Dome like we practiced." Pikachu nodded and then moved just that but actually avoided the **Stone Edge** by vanishing.

"Hey!"

"Just like back at the Battle Dome with his Swellow!"

"He used that in my match against him!"

Dawn, Brock and Candice all yelled in unison and yet in that order which also caused them to cover their mouths. They were crept out by talking at once and they were afraid that they might have hindered Ash by revealing how they seen this move being used before; maybe Brandon will see through it or Paul will get the same idea as well! Instead, Ash just smiled at them.

"Forget about it guys. I don't want to keep a secret for too long." Ash said which comforted his friends, somewhat. "Now keep it up Pikachu and use **Iron Tail** while you are at it!"

"You have been prepared for this unlike young Paul but now, **Shock Wave**!" Regirock then sent out a electric move that is noted for never missing but,

"Catch it with your tail." Ash told his Pikachu who used his trained relaxes to see to that the **Shock Wave** only hits his tail. And according to Pikachu's entry in the Pokédex, they use this tails to catch stray thunderbolts and gather their electric that way. And this was how Pikachu was able to gain more health and energy to keep fighting.

 **"Lock On."** Brandon then said which caused Regirock's many eyes to glow red and formed this red crosshair that managed to hone in on Pikachu with all his speed. **"Hyper Beam."** Now that was the reason Regirock was told to use **Lock On** , because that move causes any other to always hit their target. And Brandon wanted Regirock's **Hyper Beam** to hit Pikachu despite the vanishing speed the Mouse Pokémon was using.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out when his initial Pokémon was hit after the Hyper Beam was bended in angles no one ever thought possible, and the Pokémon was engulfed in a cloud that covered the entire field.

"Now Regirock return!" Brandon used a tactic that he used against Paul and sent a Pokémon using a move like **Hyper Beam** back into its ball. "Registeel, I need your assistance!" And like before, Registeel came after Regirock and it came out of its Pokéball right when the dust cleared for the Mouse Pokémon to lie on the ground, not moving.

If there was a referee, he would have announced that Regirock won against Pikachu but there was no such announcement made. "Why isn't Ash retrieving his Pikachu?" Dawn asked everyone in the stands who just shook their heads until,

"Release and then **Thunder**!" The ground beneath Registeel suddenly collapsed completely, but unlike with Regirock, the sheer amount of lighting came when Registeel fell into the ground and was a lot stronger and brighter. "Now without the ground to hold it back and restrain, that's its real power." Ash said and then looked down on his 'Pikachu' which suddenly faded into white flakes, uncovering a hole!

"AH!" Brandon widen his eyes while Brock and Candice did the same when they all realized what Ash's tactic was. To fool everyone into thinking Pikachu had fainted while the real one was preparing for another attack and against Registeel.

"You won't believe how much fun we had when Pikachu learned Protect and Substitute Brandon. We had a lot of time on our hands to experiment and now you see what we both discovered once we can use those two moves along with **Dig** and **Grass Knot**." Ash said when the real Pikachu came out of the ground via another tunnel leading to a hole.

 **"Iron Head."** Brandon smiled before focusing on playing his own winning part in this battle. Everyone was expecting Ash to call out for **Grass Knot** , like with Regirock but instead,

"There is also another move Pikachu learned. It is…" Ash said as Registeel zoomed in closer and closer, **"Endure!"** Pikachu then braced for the impact which was devastating but the Mouse Pokémon was able to keep in and then caused something else to happen as well. Of which, Registeel then halted violently and looked like it couldn't move. "Just like we practiced Pikachu, to use your special ability to its highest advantage."

Pikachu chirped and ran towards his trainer after getting off Registeel. And then jumped onto Ash's welcoming arm, before settling on Ash's shoulder. This was Pikachu's way of being returned without actually using his Pokéball.

"Sceptile, time to shrine!" Ash shouted and took out another Pokéball, opening it to show his fully evolved Grass starter from Hoenn; who is the fastest Pokémon Ash has other than Pikachu, and one of Ash's strongest. Ash knew this when Sceptile fought against a Pokémon with a type advantage to a standstill.

Sceptile is a reptilian, bipedal Pokémon. Its neck is somewhat long, and it has two crests on its head. It has semicircular, yellow eyes with red rims. Its lower jaw and a belt-like band across its waist are also red. Along its back, it has two lines running down the middle and two rows of yellow nodules that are described as seeds. Its tail is shaped similar to that of a palm tree's branch. Both of its long arms have two sharp, elongated leaves and three claws. These leaves allow it to use its former signature move, **Leaf Blade**.

Sceptile is a jungle Pokémon. The seeds contain nutrients, which are said to be able to revitalize trees. It is capable of leaping freely from branch to branch. While it has the ability to slice down thick trees, it is known to care lovingly for the plants in the forest. This Pokémon regulates its body temperature by basking in sunlight.

"Wow! That Pokémon looks cool!" Dawn squealed out along with her Piplup while everyone except Brock marveled at this Forest Pokémon specimen. The rock type gym leader/traveling Breeder just chuckled at the sight of Ash's Sceptile; it looked well trained for sure.

"You sure have changed since our last three matches Ash. I must say that this was all unexpected." Brandon said while Ash just chuckled.

"I have learned this a long time ago Brandon. I saw the different between using brute strength compared to using _every_ move my Pokémon now. And now I will fight you with all the strength my Pokémon have, because I know we will prevail." Ash said which caused Sceptile to struggle keeping a blush on cheeks while Pikachu had to hide it with his fur; they were heart lifted to hear how their trainer is not only counting on their brute strength but all their power.

"Very well! Use **Flash Cannon**!" Registeel channeled in some steel type energy in its hands before sending a steady beam of it at Sceptile.

 **"Earthquake!"** Sceptile took one of its legs and violently cracked open the ground which was something an actual earthquake when large pieces of the battlefield rose to block the **Flash Cannon** while landing the super effective hit on the Iron Pokémon.

"What creativity Ash! I never seen **Earthquake** used as a defense and an offense!" Brandon cheered on while his Pokémon only got dizzy from the ground type move. "Now use **Superpower**!" Registeel charged up energy that was released on the rubble around the battlefield, destroying all the land pieces that hid and protected Sceptile.

When Registeel powered down after leveling the rubble, Sceptile was nowhere in sight. "Emerge!" Ash then called out and Sceptile came from the ground in a giant hole like how Pikachu did against Regirock and then Registeel. **"Dragon Claw!"** Ash called out a very interesting command as dragon type moves are ineffective against steel types. "Now **Leech Seed**!"

Now it was clear, Ash just wanted to give Sceptile some distance as the **Dragon Claw** did send the Iron Pokémon back a good number of meters but not too far for Sceptile to wrap Registeel in seeds that were draining his strength.

 **"Flash Cannon!"**

 **"Leaf Storm!"** Registeel launched a beam of silver energy while Sceptile sent a tornado of razor sharp leaves. And the two attacks met with an explosion.

 **"Zap Cannon!"** Brandon did a risky move since Registeel could barely see Sceptile through the smoke. But when that ball of lightning appeared and heading towards the Forest Pokémon.

 **"Frenzy Plant!"** Ash called out and Sceptile caused the battlefield to be overrun with large roots that intercepted the **Zap Cannon** and yet didn't slow down until it reached Registeel, doing some impressive damage. And as luck was Ash's side now that Sceptile is feeling the side effects of moves like **Frenzy Plant** , Brandon's Registeel couldn't move with its paralysis and also the damage from the **Frenzy Plant**.

When the Pokémon were able to move again, they both showed signs of passing out. It was time for one last attack.

 **"Outrage!"**

 **"Iron Head!"**

Sceptile's eyes glowed red with uncontrollable anger that instead gave him incredible damage while Registeel charged with its body covered in steel type energy. When the two Pokémon meet, yet another cloud of dust exploded in the middle of the field. After a minute or two, the dust settled to show two figures lying on the ground, not moving at all.

And when the light of the sun settled on them, it appears that both Pokémon fainted! It was shocking to see such a titan Sceptile was proving to be but Registeel, a trained Legendary Pokémon was actually defeated! "Well." Brandon released a breath of nostalgia; he remembered when he first meet Registeel as a wild Legendary Pokémon, when he only had his Regirock. "I haven't seen Registeel fall in quite a while! You might actually win this!"

"I have three Pokémon, one of them is out while another one is barely able to battle and one last that hasn't even be sent out yet. You still have two Pokémon that can fight just fine. I will love to see that I do will." Ash said, completely not like how Paul was at the start of all this. "And I haven't showed you my strongest Pokémon yet."

"Very well. I will sent my strongest against yours. Regirock! I need your assistance!" Brandon released the Rock Peak Pokémon once again. And then Ash released his third Pokémon,

"Charizard, come on out!" Ash called out one of his oldest and more powerful Pokémon, significantly more than Sceptile and slightly more than Pikachu. And this is considering that Ash had trained them three during the last seven days before Brandon arrived.

Charizard is a draconic, bipedal Pokémon. It is primarily orange with a cream underside from the chest to the tip of its tail, which burns with a sizable flame. Charizard has a long neck, small blue eyes, raised nostrils, and two blunt horns protruding from the back of its rectangular head. There are two fangs visible in the upper jaw when its mouth is closed. Two large wings with teal undersides sprout from its back, and a horn-like appendage juts out from the third joint of each wing. Charizard's arms are short and skinny compared to its robust belly, and each limb has three white claws. It has stocky legs and cream-colored soles under its feet.

This Pokémon flies in search of powerful opponents to battle, and its fire will burn hotter as it gains experience. Its fiery breath is capable of melting boulders, massive glaciers, and has been known to accidentally cause forest fires. Charizard typically inhabit mountains and valleys.

"Let's see your power. **Superpower**!" Brandon called out and it was a fortunate fact that Pokémon usually recover from the side effects of moves like **Superpower** once they are returned to their Pokéballs. And when Regirock raced with a mighty punch reeled in for the hit, Charizard was able to make it through since it was ineffective hit.

 **"Overheat!"** Charizard loved it when Ash made commands that he liked personally and the Flame Pokémon was able to repel Regirock with a fierce explosion of heat and fire. And despite being an ineffective hit on its own, Regirock had to dig trenches to stop itself.

" **Dragon Breath."**

 **"Shock Wave!"**

Both Pokémon shot out their attacks which met once again in the middle of the battlefield and canceled each other out once again. **"Focus Punch."**

"Use your **Mega Punch**!" Both trainers shouted out and once again, both Pokémon were matched out with punches this time. **"Fire Spin."** Charizard then trapped Regirock within a vortex of fire. "Another **Mega Punch**!" This time, Regirock was too distracted to counter this **Mega Punch** that sent it flying back again, still engulfed in flame.

"Get out with **Superpower**!" Brandon called out and Regirock was only able to escape when it launched an all-angle attack this time. And when Regirock powered down and lost more attack and defense power,

"Use your latest move, **Dragon Tail**!" (2) Charizard seemed to be a little dishearten but decided to trust Ash's tactics. As Regirock was feeling the negative effects of **Superpower** , it couldn't stop Charizard from moving in close and using his glowing to tail to land some impressive damage. And then Regirock glowed red before being sent back into its ball at Brandon's belt; then another Pokémon came out before Brandon could do a thing about it.

"Now that is a move I never heard of Ash. And one with a strange side-ability. A move that does damage and sends the target back into its Pokéball, something I never imagined." Brandon said as now Regirock is back in its ball and now his other remaining titan of a Pokémon, Regice, is now out.

" **Will-o-Wisp** and **Fire Spin**." Ash called out and Charizard carried them both out which got Regice to gain a burn and get trapped in the same way as Regirock was before Charizard sent it out of the battlefield. "Now use **Mega Punch**!"

" **Ice Beam** , go!" Regice fought the burn and effects of the Fire Spin to send a beam of freezing energy at Charizard who was flying to hit it.

"Catch it!" Ash then shouted out and Charizard saw the plan as well. Accelerating the reel-in for **Mega Punch** , Charizard was able to get his fist completely frozen but that was what both Pokémon and trainer were counting on. Because Charizard was still able to hit Regice and the ice around the Flame Pokémon's fist strengthen the attack and soften the blow for **Mega Punch** by instead shattering the ice on Charizard's fist. "Good, now return!"

Everyone was wondering just why Ash will return Charizard, with a matching that gave Ash the advantage unlike Regirock. "Now Pikachu, are you up for what can be your last stand today?" Ash then turned to his very first Pokémon who had ten minutes the most to recover. But Pikachu nodded and went back to the field without being told to.

To Brock and Brandon, this brought memories of when Ash was left with Pikachu against Regice back during Ash's take on the Battle Frontier. And despite the odds, Pikachu went through and defeated Regice who was still at the level of a wild Pokémon. Everyone else were at the edge of their seats, wanting to see Ash's tactics against the Iceberg Pokémon. "Okay Pikachu, use **Thunderbolt**!"

Regice then felt the familiar thunder bolt attack and only got a little damage since it was actually properly trained. " **Ice Beam** on the ground!" Brandon wanted to see if Ash has remembered this exact match up by using the old fashioned tactics.

" **Thunder** at Regice's feet!" Ash called out and Pikachu launched a large surge of electricity at the base of Regice's position which caused the ice covered ground to explode into more rubble. This of course, stopped the **Ice Beam** that was heading towards Pikachu and even shattered the rest of the ice.

 **"Blizzard!"** Brandon called out and Regice was able to repel any loose rubble that was coming down. This also sent all that rubble all over the battlefield, some into Pikachu's direction. Thankfully for Ash, Pikachu had gotten into the habit of using **Protect** when the Pokémon feels like unavoidable danger is coming. And it seems that Pikachu's skill with **Protect** was greater than Paul's Electabuzz.

All the while, Brandon's Regice was feeling the health clipping effects Charizard inflicted on it. "Now use **Rest**!"

"It is time Pikachu, use **Volt Tackle** combined with **Thunder**!" Ash called out a very deadly move, to use only as a last resort. And Pikachu charged its **Volt Tackle** while using **Thunder** , on himself! This caused Pikachu to turn from a missile of electricity to more like a battering ram as it slammed into the sleeping Regice very hard. And **Rest** might restore the user's health, it doesn't do that while the user is still asleep.

With all this in mind, Regice was actually showing some damage while Pikachu was a lot worse. The effects of **Volt Tackle** that made it a double edged move were drastically enhanced by **Thunder**. Pikachu couldn't stand after doing so much damage. And Ash had to use his Pokéball on his Pokémon, remembering to be ready for his best buddy complaining about being stuffed in such a tight spot; the very feature about the Pokéball that Pikachu can't stand. "Sorry about this buddy."

Brandon saw that look on Ash's face and even noticed that the tone was a regretful trainer, not just for forcing his Pokémon to use just a dangerous move but was something of a bullied trainer; who thought that he was going to get scolded very badly. "Ash." Brandon said to get the trainer's attention, even though the boy in question never raised his downtrodden head.

"Keep fighting. I want to see all of your power. And I will not let you forfeit now!" Brandon shouted out, "Show me the power of the only trainer to defeat me!"

Ash then finally rose his head up and took out his only remaining Pokémon. "Charizard, no holding back!" Out came the proud and powerful Flame Pokémon, in all his glory. "Use **Air Slash**!"

Charizard flapped his mighty wings swiftly despite their size and stirred up some sharp winds that actually did some damage to Regice and caused the Iceberg Pokémon to flinch at how sharp they were. "Now use a move we perfected. **Flare Blitz**!"

While Charizard was glowing red with flames showing up, everyone in the stands had some reactions of their own. " **Flare Blitz**? I only seen Flint's signature Pokémon use that move and I thought that only the more powerful fire types can learn it." Reggie said and this time, Brock had no idea what move that was.

" **Flare Blitz** is a very strong physical move, the strongest one a fire type can learn. And while it does some impressive damage, it does dealt the same effects of **Double Edge** and **Volt Tackle**."

So they decided that Ash must have abandoned his initial tactic in terms of moves to use. This is probably because Regice can just use **Rest** and reverse all the damage that Pikachu gave before he passed out to recoil and exhaustion. And that Charizard looked dissatisfied with pairing up with Regice.

And when Charizard proved to be faster than Regice, the Iceberg Pokémon actually fell to the super effective hit that was one of the most powerful fire type moves there are that non-Legendary fire types can learn. And for the second time since Brandon caught it, Regice was defeated. Now the Pyramid King is left with only his Regirock that had been taking considerable hits since the three-on-three match started and Charizard barely got any damage other than the effects of **Flare Blitz**.

"Regirock, I need your assistance!" Brandon announced and Ash steeled himself since there is still a good chance he will mess up and lose. He won't want to do the mistake that Paul made by losing control over his emotions. "Use **Stone Edge**!"

This was strange since Brandon used moves that dealt powerful damage that didn't have to rely on super effective hits. **"Steel Wing."** Ash calmly told his Pokémon who actually got off without a scratch when Charizard harden his wings to the toughness of steel and blocked every stone fragment that made up **Stone Edge**. "Now **Fire Blast**."

Charizard sent a burst of fire that was surprisingly in the shape of the Kanji for 'fire'. Yet despite its power, it barely did anything against the resistant rock type Regirock. **"Shock Wave!"**

 **"Flamethrower!"** Ash knew that Brandon was now switching tactics in order to pressure him and his Charizard since it is now all or nothing with only one Pokémon left on each side. And Ash is doing good so far against otherwise, super effective hits; and from a legendary Pokémon, these could end the battle right with only one of them. **"Overheat!"**

Charizard then sent a vortex of fire that engulfed Regirock causing some significant but ineffective damage. **"Zap Cannon!"** Brandon shouted and Regirock fired a ball of raw lightning that faintly reminded Charizard of when he saw Pikachu's own attacks.

"Use **Fire Spin** like we trained!" Ash commanded and Charizard expelled the flames for **Fire Spin** but instead of locking on Regirock, it landed on the **Zap Cannon** that was still airborne. Then Charizard twisted and turned his body which somehow caused the **Zap Cannon** to do the same and return to Regirock, twice as fast!

Regirock couldn't stop it or avoid the paralysis effects that happen every time **Zap Cannon** hits the target. **"Stone Edge!"** Brandon shouted out and Regirock tried to fight the paralysis only to fail to use its **Stone Edge**.

 **"Mega Punch!"** Ash called out so Charizard charged with a fish reeled in.

"Use **Focus Punch**!" Regirock then tried harder against the paralysis and managed to complete a full **Focus Punch** that hit Charizard while the latter's **Mega Punch** landed on the former. And they both were sent flying back only for both Pokémon to flinch in pain and fall briefly to one of their knees.

Now it was time. Both Pokémon are showing significant exhaustion and pain.

"Use **Flare Blitz**!"

 **"Superpower!"**

Charizard fought his pain and charged with fire engulfed his body while Regirock did the same with its body glowing red and reeling in for a punch. When the two powerhouse met, there was yet another explosion of dust, dirt and bright light.

Once everyone saw the shapes and shadows of the two remaining Pokémon, they saw something they never thought they will in their lives, ever. There, right in front of a badly bruised and panting Charizard, was Regirock and its state is worse than Charizard's! It looked like it was going to faint anytime and yet, so was Charizard.

"It is a draw!" Ash suddenly shouted and the two Pokémon plus trainers present did not see that coming. And while most of them were shocked and confused, Charizard just took in breath of relief before falling on his bottom, using his ore arms to stable himself. "There is no winner or loser! The match is over with a draw!"

Brandon then saw what Ash had in mind which was actually tied in why Ash had challenged him in the first place; to prove that Ash didn't want to win again and only wanted to see just how strong Brandon was and how Ash himself was in comparison. Pretty soon, everyone in the crowds got it as well, all except for Paul.

He just growled at how Ash had actually sent Brandon's Pokémon to the ground while his full team couldn't do even a single one in. Just how far ahead of him is Ash?

XXXXX

"Thank you Ash. I never felt such excitement since I became the head of the Battle Pyramid. You are definitely as strong as I hear you are." Brandon said while the staff of the facility healed both Brandon's and Ash's Pokémon.

"It's no problem Brandon. You are definitely the guy I will go to for some real tough battle experience and even some insight on how strong Legendary Pokémon are." Ash said modestly. "And as for the moves you don't recognize, we have connections to this strange region that isn't registered into the Pokémon International Leagues yet. It was supposed to have Pokémon that can't be found in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn or even here is Sinnoh. And that they never seen Pokémon that can be found in any of the four regions too!"

Brandon smiled at how excited Ash was. He missed that part of the trainer after seeing that Ash's experience with a Legendary Pokémon encounter nearly robbed him of all his innocence. "Is that so? I might actually check it out once I learn of ruins that catch my attention."

"What is a good region without a little history Brandon? I will be surprised to hear of one that doesn't have ancient ruins to explore." Ash said and the two eventually laughed at once. Looks like the two trainers understand each other perfectly.

But this close moment was ruined when a shrine maiden arrived, looking distressed. Ignoring Brock's lame attempt to woe her, the maiden said that the ruins where Brandon was to explore were attacked by, and I quote, 'A evil looking woman that rode a Salamence'!

"Hunter J." Ash said in a growl while his shadow suddenly morphed into the same dark creature from back in the Battle Pyramid.

End of Chapter 9.

 ***Thanks for the reviews! I was glad to get that chapter down and done. And I had been looking forward to complete this chapter for a while. It was daring, to have Ash got against Brandon during his Sinnoh Journey. And since I haven't found a fanfic that did before me, I dare say that I am the first to display this. I hoped it was good enough for the Ash you wanted to battle Brandon during the times of the episode 'A Pyramiding Rage'.**

 **Another point is that I never thought I will make a chapter this long outside another story of mine. I guess that stories on Pokémon are the ones with the long chapters. Please let me know what you think anyways!***

 **1\. I do agree that the anime did a mistake by making Stone Edge one of the few moves that bypass Protect but not in the games. This is how I imagined Paul's Electabuzz getting hit by Regirock's Stone Edge anyways.**

 **2\. I am sure you are tired of this but I feel like this is necessary because I am using moves that appear in the anime but are not in the same generation as Sinnoh. And I am giving Charizard Dragon Tail ahead for the sake of this chapter.**


	10. Ash, Having Enough of J

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

"Pokémon" – Normal Speech

'Pokémon' – Thoughts

 _Pokémon_ – Flashback

 **Pokémon** – Move Names

 **{Pokémon}** – Pokédex

Master of Bad Dreams

Ash, Having Enough of J, Reveals His Shadow

 _Previously on Master of Bad Dreams,_

" _It is a draw!" Ash suddenly shouted and the two Pokémon plus trainers present did not see that coming. And while most of them were shocked and confused, Charizard just took in breath of relief before falling on his bottom, using his ore arms to stable himself. "There is no winner or loser! The match is over with a draw!"_

 _Brandon then saw what Ash had in mind which was actually tied in why Ash had challenged him in the first place; to prove that Ash didn't want to win again and only wanted to see just how strong Brandon was and how Ash himself was in comparison. Pretty soon, everyone in the crowds got it as well, all except for Paul._

 _He just growled at how Ash had actually sent Brandon's Pokémon to the ground while his full team couldn't do even a single one in. Just how far ahead of him is Ash?_

 _XXXXX_

 _"Thank you Ash. I never felt such excitement since I became the head of the Battle Pyramid. You are definitely as strong as I hear you are." Brandon said while the staff of the facility healed both Brandon's and Ash's Pokémon._

 _"It's no problem Brandon. You are definitely the guy I will go to for some real tough battle experience and even some insight on how strong Legendary Pokémon are." Ash said modestly. "And as for the moves you don't recognize, we have connections to this strange region that isn't registered into the Pokémon International Leagues yet. It was supposed to have Pokémon that can't be found in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn or even here is Sinnoh. And that they never seen Pokémon that can be found in any of the four regions too!"_

 _Brandon smiled at how excited Ash was. He missed that part of the trainer after seeing that Ash's experience with a Legendary Pokémon encounter nearly robbed him of all his innocence. "Is that so? I might actually check it out once I learn of ruins that catch my attention."_

 _"What is a good region without a little history Brandon? I will be surprised to hear of one that doesn't have ancient ruins to explore." Ash said and the two eventually laughed at once. Looks like the two trainers understand each other perfectly._

 _But this close moment was ruined when a shrine maiden arrived, looking distressed. Ignoring Brock's lame attempt to woe her, the maiden said that the ruins where Brandon was to explore were attacked by, and I quote, 'A evil looking woman that rode a Salamence'!_

 _"Hunter J." Ash said in a growl while his shadow suddenly morphed into the same dark creature from back in the Battle Pyramid._

"Hunter J…like the one that you have be running into since early in your Sinnoh journey?" Maria asked while driving her jeep on high drive, to try and get to the temple ASAP.

"Cold, ruthless, selfish, cowardly and inhumane. That is the J, and she must be after what you have come to try and see for yourself." Ash responded, and with a cold tone, from his place in the front passenger seat with his friends in the back. Brandon decided to try and distract them with his massive Battle Pyramid, quite a risky move since it was made with very advanced tech; thus it will be very difficult to repair once damaged. And they came a little too late, the temple has completely been taken over. "Those are J's men. Without question." Ash said simply and coldly.

"B-but…! Why would they want with the Snowpoint Temple!?" Maria, the temple maiden shouted in confusion and fear. All from the point close to the temple that the jeep and the passengers were hidden from the lackeys outside. "We only wanted to find the temple to restore it! It is a part of Snowpoint City history!"

Ash silenced her by placing his hand on Maria's shoulder. "They could care less about the temple. That is not what they are here for." Ash said confidently, "Otherwise they would have been long gone. It must be what's inside that they want."

"NO!" Maria shouted once again. She had to try to keep her voice down, as to not draw the attention of J's henchmen. "If they are what you say there are, then they are after Regigigas!" Maria revealed her worries and everyone listening widen their eyes in surprise.

Maria explained that Regigigas is supposedly the creator of the Legendary Titans that Brandon uses in his frontier battles. She said of a story that there was a natural disaster that would have destroyed the area that will be called Snowpoint in the future but Regigigas came in a blue light. From there, it guided the Regi trio to stop the disaster and allow the humans to build Snowpoint. And then she said that it is supposed to dwell in a dormant state within the Snowpoint temple, guarded by a lock to represent each of the three titan Pokémon.

"But if it is located in a temple, how did J find out? I am sure to keep this knowledge a secret, as tight as national secrecy." Ash then brought up but no one could even comment on that question when J's henchmen started to move away from the entrance. They were yelling something about 'a giant, floating pyramid'.

Taking in the sounds of destruction and yelling of the henchmen, it was safe to say that Brandon's idea of a distraction was a success. And the Frontier Brain should be fine if he is known as the 'Pyramid King'. And that means, Ash and company won't have to go through the henchmen to get into the occupied temple.

But getting to the temple's entrance was the easy part. Actually getting inside was harder when Ash narrowly dodged a thick string of a sticky substance; a **String Shot** , from a Pokémon! "That's an Ariados! J's Ariados!" Ash shouted, pulling off the webbings with sudden strength.

Ariados is a Pokémon that resembles a spider. It has a red body with black stripes and markings on is rear that form a face. In the center of its head in small, white horn. Additionally, it also has small purple eyes and a pair of white mandibles. Ariados has four yellow legs with purple stripes; long, pointed growths on its back appear to be remnants of its fifth and sixth legs.

"No doubt sent here to prevent anyone from coming if we made it past J's henchmen." Brock said in a serious tone and everyone agreed when that Ariados shot out yet another **String Shot**.

 **"Thunderbolt!"** Ash shouted out and Pikachu was as fast pure lighting, releasing a straight streak of electrify at the **String Shot**. "Put him to sleep." Ash then said in a cold tone and his friends had a bad feeling that Ash wasn't talking to his Pikachu. But they push such thoughts aside when the Ariados did indeed fall, on the ground and out like a light.

Now with the Ariados out of the way, the gang raced into the temple as if they were trying to out run a sandstorm or worse. In this case, it was once the hall way rocked like in an earthquake. **"Hyper Beam!"** Ash practically growled out a roar along with Pikachu to hear a voice filled with malice and arrogance. Coming around that last corner, everyone saw her. They saw J, with an expression that matches Ash's perfectly; and her proxy was prefect, a Salamence!

J's Salamence is a quadruped, draconic Pokémon with a long, tapering tail. It is primarily blue with a gray lower jaw and thickly scaled underside. There are red markings on its throat, the underside of its tail, and stripes on the inner surface of its legs. Additionally, there are raised red ridges above its eyes. Three flat fins protrude from either side of its head, possibly acting in the same manner that a Canard would on an aircraft. It has two pairs of pointed teeth, one in the upper jaw and one in the lower. Each of its short legs has three claws. A Salamence's powerful desire to fly triggered a mutation that allowed it to grow large, red wings.

"Another!" J shouted and then laughed to see the destruction that her primary Pokémon can create. And right now, she is doing something that she will regret; awakening the golem that is superior to all, especially the Regi trio.

"STOP!" Everyone yelled once they finally entered the center of the temple but Hunter J had the right to laugh; it was too late to stop the remaining column from crumbling. And they were acting like a lock, a defense mechanism. A mechanism to keep Regigigas in its slumber, as a large blue orb.

But no more. That orb sensed the loss of its structure and supply of power that is keeping Regigigas asleep. And with a light the filled the room, the orb lifted up from its resting place. And took the shape of a massive behemoth; the Colossal Pokémon in all its glory, Regigigas!

Regigigas is a large, white, golem-like Pokémon with seven black circular "eyes" arranged in a specific pattern. The pattern is Regigigas's way of showing its anger; its eyes glow red when it is provoked. It has six spots that are apart from its eyes, which appear to be gemstones. These gemstones seem to be represent the other three Regis, with red gems representing Regirock, blue gems indicating Regice, and silver gems representing Registeel. It has long arms, with three fairly human-like white fingers, and short legs that end in large mossy bushes instead of feet. Regigigas has large yellow bands on its shoulders and wrists, with a sloping section on its chest that appears to be its head and is also yellow. Its body is covered in black stripes, and it has moss growing in its back and feet.

"REGI~!" The massive golem had definitely been awakened prematurity and thus was a tad grouchy to say the least. So much that when it saw J and her Salamence, it correctly assumed to the ones responsible. And with speed that defied its massive size, Regigigas moved in with one of its arms with icy wind covering. "GIGAS~!" Regigigas roared as it landed that **Ice Punch** , too fast for even a highly trained Salamence can fly away to dodge, dealing extensive damage; to both the Pokémon and the cave wall that they were sent through.

"REGI~!" But the giant Pokémon was not done. Not even by a mile, or two. Instead of seeking out disasters to the stop, "REGIGI~GAS~!" The Colossal Pokémon _is_ the disaster. Firing a **Hyper Beam** from both palms, left to right.

"Run!" Ash shouted, "It is getting too dangerous here!" His companions couldn't agree more.

"But Regigigas…!" Maria started until she found her arm forcefully pulled by Ash. And it was for her own good.

"It will be fine! We need to group up with Brandon! Maybe he and his Pokémon can do something!" Ash shouted out and, by a frog's hair, everyone managed to get out of the crumbling temple.

"Ash!" Everyone turned to see a sight that made them smile in relief. The Pyramid King has once again proven his title, that even an army of henchmen are nothing to Brandon of the Battle Pyramid.

XXXXX

But, "Brandon!" Armies and Henchmen are also nothing compared to a persistent and cruel hunter. Especially one named J and her Salamence, _and_ with her style of hunting tech. Let's just say that she can either turn her prey into trophies onboard her ship, or on the field with a miniature version of the gun at her disposal.

And right now, it was the one thing that made things look downhill. It is a long story but to cut it short, the hope of the Regi titans helping against Regigigas only proven to be too optimistic and naïve. Even firing at once, the Colossal Pokémon was more than a match for Brandon's Pokémon. And things were getting difficult when all three of the Regi titans were hit by Regigigas's **Confuse Ray** ; and instead of making them dizzy, Regigigas caused Brandon's own titans to switch sides.

It was a chase to remember, trying to calm down the group of titan Pokémon from reaching Snowpoint City, to prevent any possible damage. But who would have thought that Hunter J's annoying persistence had actually turned the tables in favor of trainers and remaining Pokémon. She did this by unleashing her Salamence and its **Hyper Beam** while her Ariados used **String Shot** on all except the Regi trio. This meant that she had gotten her prey and her enemies out of the way.

Unfortunately, for J, this event had caused the Regi Trio to finally come to their senses and see the true enemy when Regigigas had finally settled down from its rude awakening. But its **Slow Start** ability had finally kicked in, the Colossal Pokémon was now helpless itself in Ariados's **String Shot**. But that wasn't the problem, for the cruel hunter, it was how the trio are now obeying their trainer once again.

And while Brandon took out an army knife to cut the **String Shot** on his body, the Regi Trio blocked J's attempt at petrifying Regigigas. Ash saw it all and struggled to free himself too like everyone else. But when Brandon had freed himself, he only had the time to intercept J's fourth attempt and firing of her arm cannon.

"Ha!" J actually decided to hold off taking the chance she has at Regigigas to laugh at Brandon's act of self-sacrifice. "You think that stopping me once again is going to change anything? Your pathetic friends are still helpless as this monster and your own Pokémon were also as stupid! But I bet that I can fetch a price ten times the amount I was promised." J turned sadistically and had the look of greed and lust. "I can just think of all the money they will throw at my feet for these stupid golems and the 'Pyramid King'."

Ash, seeing that The Regi trio and Brandon included were turned to stone to protect Regigigas, was so outraged that he now looked like he was possessed by a malicious ghost. His aura only grew darker and stronger the longer he heard J's cruel laughter at their sacrifice.

" **Ice Beam."** Ash said, with a tone that was colder than the beam of freezing energy that appeared as if from nowhere. It was fast enough to take Salamence by surprise and deal double super effective damage. **"Dark Void."**

"Dodge it!" J shouted out but that orb of dark type energy was as fast as a falling meteor, and hit Salamence before it could even budge after that ambushing **Ice Beam**. This caused J to fall along with her Pokémon down the hill, tumbling like a loose boulder. This left Ash and company with a still immobile Regigigas, surrounded by petrified statues. This time, they were finally able to free themselves from the **String Shot**.

"Ash?" Dawn spoke up, seeing the raven haired trainer get out of the jeep and started to walk down the hill that J had disappeared down. "Where are you…?"

"Stay here. This is the last straw." Ash simply said and Dawn wisely obeyed. Otherwise, she would have to answer to not only her enraged friend but his practically sentential shadow. And she got a good glimpse as Ash walked through some of the sunshine; it turned from a human-shaped shadow to one much bigger and looked a lot more menacing and deformed.

XXXXX

At the bottom of the hillslope,

"God damn Kid!" J grumbled as she tried to get her aching body to left from a rather painful impression she left on the ground. She cursed that boulder for happening to be there to cause her descend to take a steep curve upward. And instead of losing momentum safely on the ground, it just broke her fall. Along with some bones of course.

"Salamence! Get up! We need to capture that Regigigas!" J shouted as she tried to get the knots in her back untied. But noticed that a couple of things were missing. One was that the roar of Salamence or at least the sound of its wings moving. Two, her visor was not on her face. Finally, her belt was missing, with all her Pokéballs!

"If you are searching, you won't find them." J then heard a voice that shook her broken body like a rattle in an infant's cubby hand. "Because they right here." J looked up, ignoring the pain in her neck, to see that her possessions were in Ash's hands. Including Salamence, in its Pokéball!

"Brat! Fucking god damn kid!" J cursed a lot like an angry sailor at the sight of one of her most meddling enemies, a kid that is at least half her own age but always ruined her deals when he is around. "You will be a good sight, as a statute going to be…!" J then thrusted her arm forward but then felt something not there either; her arm cannon that petrified her targets!

Then J heard a sound that soon filled her with dread and fear. J saw that Ash had discarded all her Pokéballs, her belt and her visor onto the ground. What remained in his hand was the very tool that she also lost and recovered at the hands of her enemy. 'No. NO!' J realized that she is without tools or weapons. She has a broken body that she can't flee in. Ultimately, she is both powerless and helpless; and at the feet of an angry and wrathful Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town.

"J, you are the worst. In both as a hunter and as a human being. Pokémon hate you, trainers hate you, your very men hate you and I hate you." Ash said while J couldn't even move her legs as she hopeless tried to. He then pointed her own device, mounted on his arm, directly at her. "You considered Pokémon, living creatures to be nothing but prey to be captured, contained and forgotten. Now let's see how you like it."

"No! No, I am sorry! I won't do it again!" J foolishly and selfishly tried to save her own life from the doom that she cast on herself. The last thing she saw was Ash himself, covered by a menacing and ominous aura made of pure darkness. Darkness that took the form of a certain prince of nightmares with eyes that glowed red, darker than human blood; they were filled with rage and hate, dried of mercy.

"Once a hunter, always a hunter J. And you will make a nice trophy, for a storeroom!" Ash then stopped hesitating and fired the petrifying ray that took effect on the hunter who still looked at her fate with cowardliness. Ash then released a sigh, one that he was holding in since his heart was racing; this might truly be the last time Ash will see the type of scum to hold a Pokéball, one that made the other villains and even Paul look tame and look saint-like.

All Ash ever felt next was a hand over his shoulder. It could be his friends or the others that caught up with him but Ash knew better. It was the hand, not of a trainer, but of a Pokémon. A Pokémon that finally found the one that never hated it, feared it or wanted its power for fame or any selfish personal gain. "Thank you, Darkrai." Ash said, not seeing that the Pitch Black Pokémon was looking at its trainer with eyes not of hate and anger but of pride and a usual sympathy with Ash. They both made a lot of hard choices and done things they were never proud of.

Later,

"Well kid, you surprised me once again." Brandon said as Officer Jenny and her men rounded up Hunter J's men, with their leader now a lifeless statue in a heavy-fortified containment unit; she is going to be place where she will be forgotten and if Hunter J is discovered, no one will be able to free her.

"It doesn't change anything that happened in just one day Brandon, but thanks anyways." Ash said, still not actually feeling any better about all this. There was still this proverbial, emotional tug-of-war inside his mind that is also tugging at his chest; one between pride that the 'uncatchable' Hunter J has been defeated and regret that Ash made himself look like a monster to do it, not even thinking about anything else.

"No problem Kid. Now that I have encountered Regigigas, I will ask that the press and public are not to be told of this." Brandon then turned to Officer Jenny, explaining he didn't have the desire to catch Regigigas, despite catching and owning the Regi trio. Brandon didn't want the public to find out that Regigigas is real and where to try and catch him; that won't be right. It was the most the Pyramid King can owe since it was Regigigas and its Hidden Power that cured both him and his Pokémon out of the petrification.

"Of course." Officer Jenny said and ordered her men to clean up and see to it that this incident never happened, and thus was never witnessed.

"It's a start." Ash muttered and walked away for some air. Somehow, being around people was not helping him. And when Ash had found a tree with a shadow, he decided to take a little rest, with Pikachu around as always. But Pikachu was not the only one looking after this tormented and tired Ash, his shadow did as well; like all shadows do because we do the same.

End of Chapter 10.

 ***Thanks for the reviews for this story! And I have read the ones for my latest published one. I have thought about your questions and I will explain my plans for the story in the next chapter, once I publish it. Check it out!***


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